System and method for distributed network performance management

ABSTRACT

A distributed network performance management system and method that distributes a large portion of the network performance management to wireless client devices connected to the network. Rather than rely on a central server to perform the bulk of network performance management, a distributed network performance management system offloads much of the work of service quality testing, reporting, and troubleshooting to wireless client devices that are connected to the network. It utilizes spare computing power and storage space on the wireless client devices to reduce the cloud operation costs of the system including such things as bandwidth requirements, data storage requirements, and data processing requirements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Application No. Date Filed Title Current Herewith SYSTEM AND METHOD FORapplication WIRELESS NETWORK PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENTUSING REMOTE DEVICES Is a continuation-in-part of: 16/845,637 Apr. 10,2020 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELES SNETWORK PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT ANDMANAGEMENT USING REMOTE DEVICES which is a continuation-in-part of:16/748,241 Jan. 21, 2020 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS NETWORKPERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT USING REMOTE DEVICES which is acontinuation-in-part of: 16/374,579 Apr. 3, 2019 SYSTEM AND METHOD FORPatent Issue Date WIRELESS NETWORK 10,542,446 Jan. 21, 2020 PERFORMANCEMEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT USING REMOTE DEVICES which is a continuationof: 15/161,177 May 20, 2016 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR Patent Issue DateWIRELESS NETWORK 10,375,591 Aug. 6, 2019 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT ANDMANAGEMENT USING REMOTE DEVICES which is a continuation of: 15/161,172May 20, 2016 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR Patent Issue Date WIRELESS NETWORK10,251,120 Apr. 2, 2019 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT USINGREMOTE DEVICES Current Herewith SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR applicationWIRELESS NETWORK PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT USING REMOTEDEVICES Is a continuation-in-part of: 16/845,637 Apr. 10, 2020 SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR WIRELESS NETWORK PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENTUSING REMOTE DEVICES which is also a continuation-in-part of: 15/600,681May 19, 2017 WI-FI ROAMING MANAGEMENT the entire specification of eachof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Art

The disclosure relates to the field of wireless networks, and moreparticularly to the field of wireless network service qualitymeasurement and management.

Discussion of the State of the Art

Wireless networks have become a foundational part of our communicationstechnology. Current methodologies for network performance management aresubstantially limited in numerous ways, including, but not limited to,their ability to obtain accurate data regarding network performance atall levels, their ability to integrate those data to determine andoptimize overall network performance, and their ability to identify,troubleshoot, and improve areas of poor network performance. Currentmethodologies further rely on testing and data gathering performed by acentral server, which leads to bandwidth problems and unnecessary datastorage and processing costs.

What is needed is a distributed network performance management systemand method that distributes a large portion of the network performancemanagement to wireless client devices connected to the network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, adistributed network performance management system and method thatdistributes a large portion of the network performance management towireless client devices connected to the network. Rather than rely on acentral server to perform the bulk of network performance management, adistributed network performance management system offloads much of thework of service quality testing, reporting, and troubleshooting towireless client devices that are connected to the network. It utilizesspare computing power and storage space on the wireless client devicesto reduce the cloud operation costs of the system including such thingsas bandwidth requirements, data storage requirements, and dataprocessing requirements. In some embodiments, all or some of the locusof control of network performance management may be shifted up or downthe hierarchy of system components as needed. In some embodiments, thesystem employs client service levels and optimization algorithms todynamically adjust the level of sampling detail gathered in response tocertain network conditions. In some embodiments, the system usesmulti-factor event correlation to infer network conditions that are notdirectly measurable or identifiable. In some embodiments, the systemuses improved wireless client device system driver data capture andanalysis to obtain accurate measurements of device-specific networkperformance, even where such device-specific network performance are notsupported by the client device or the wireless access point to which theclient device is connected.

According to a preferred embodiment, a system for distributed networkperformance management is disclosed, comprising: a control server,comprising a memory, a processor, and a first plurality of programminginstructions stored in the memory which, when operating on theprocessor, cause the control server to: send configuration instructionsto a distributed testing application installed on a plurality of clientdevices, the configuration instructions for each device comprising: alevel of autonomy of the client device; instructions to report networktest results, the network test results comprising an indicator ofnetwork performance regarding the client device's connection to anetwork; receive the reported network test results from the clientdevice; and determine a condition of performance of the network from thereported data; change the configuration instructions for one or more ofthe plurality of client devices based on the condition; and adistributed testing application comprising a second plurality ofprogramming instructions stored in a memory of, and operating on aprocessor of, each of the plurality of client devices, wherein thesecond plurality of programming instructions, when operating on theprocessor of the respective client device, causes the respective clientdevice to: receive the configuration instructions; establish a networktesting regime, the network testing regime being based on the level ofautonomy and comprising: a selection of one or more types of networktesting to be performed; a schedule for performing the one or more typesof network testing; and a selection of one or more granularity levelsfor the one or more types of network testing; and a selection or one ormore granularity levels of test results to report; a schedule forreporting network test results of the one or more types of networktesting and granularities to the control server and/or a third partyserver; and report the network test results to the control server or thethird party server.

According to another preferred embodiment, a method for distributednetwork performance management is disclosed, comprising the steps of:sending configuration instructions from a control server to adistributed testing application installed on a plurality of clientdevices, the configuration instructions for each device comprising: alevel of autonomy of the client device; instructions to report networktest results, the network test results comprising an indicator ofnetwork performance regarding the client device's connection to anetwork; receive the reported network test results from the clientdevice; and determining a condition of performance of the network fromthe reported data; changing the configuration instructions for one ormore of the plurality of client devices based on the condition; andwherein the distributed testing application, operating on each of theplurality of client devices, causes the respective client device to:receive the configuration instructions; establish a network testingregime, the network testing regime being based on the level of autonomyand comprising: a selection of one or more types of network testing tobe performed; a schedule for performing the one or more types of networktesting; and a selection of one or more granularity levels for the oneor more types of network testing; and a schedule for reporting networktest results of the one or more types of network testing to the controlserver or a third party server; and report the network test results tothe control server or the third party server.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a hierarchy of client devicesis used wherein some of the plurality of client devices act as anintermediary control server for other client devices.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a service level manager is usedto: include a service level command in the configuration instructionssent to one or more groups of client devices, the service level commandcomprising a service level for testing and reporting; wherein theservice level command causes each client device a given group to adjustits network testing regime based on the service level.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the selection of tests, theschedule for testing, and the schedule for reporting of the networktesting regime for each device in the given group is based onstatistical sampling methodologies.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the network testing regimefurther comprises: monitoring of a parameter of network performance;increasing network testing frequency, granularity, or both, where theclient device detects a problem with network performance; and decreasingnetwork testing frequency, granularity, or both, where the client devicedoes not detect a problem with network performance.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the configuration instructionsfurther comprise instructions to capture geolocation data regarding theclient device's geolocation and provide the geolocation data inconjunction with the network test results.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the configuration instructionsfurther comprise instructions to additionally send test results to athird-party server for analysis and reporting.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, the configuration instructionsfurther comprise instructions to only send detailed test results to athird-party while sending only the results at the level of detailrequired by the control server to manage the statistical sampling andtesting regimes.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, at least one client device is awireless device, and at least one of the one or more types of networktesting is a test of wireless communication performance.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a distributed testingapplication is used to: capture wireless packet data from the wirelessdevice driver of the client device; extract frame data from the wirelesspacket data; and calculate an indicator of wireless performance from theextracted frame data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention according to the embodiments. It will beappreciated by one skilled in the art that the particular embodimentsillustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not to beconsidered as limiting of the scope of the invention or the claimsherein in any way.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor measuring and reporting wireless network service quality usingremote devices, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method for measuringand reporting wireless network service quality using remote devices,according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method by which thesystem is programmed with customer specific test suites according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor central analysis and control server to analyze network servicequality using remote devices, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method by whichcentral analysis and control server may interact with other componentsof the system and analyze network performance test data according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating information that is processed bycentral analysis and control server analytics engine according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor mobile wireless service quality test device employed to analyzenetwork service quality using remote devices, according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method by whichmobile wireless network service quality device may operate to collectstore and transmit test suite data according to a preferred embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating methods by which users of wirelessnetworks being tested might submit their perceived experience to thewireless network service quality test system according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating both passive and active testing ofmore than one wireless network by wireless network service quality testdevices according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 Is a list of methods by which the location of individualwireless network service quality test devices may be obtained accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram displaying two example formats of wireless servicequality test output according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a possible notification, warning and alarmmechanism to be used when network performance is found to be belowcustomer established service level minimums according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logicalarchitecture for a client device, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an exemplary architecturalarrangement of clients, servers, and external services, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device used in a plurality of embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating change of access point during wirelessnetwork user roaming according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 19 is a table of network parameters that may be tested according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an exemplary system architecture for adistributed network performance management system.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an exemplary system architecturedistributed network performance management system which uses serviceslevels to control the volume and flow of network testing traffic.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an exemplary architecture for capture ofconnectivity and accurate network performance data on client devices,even where the client device does not support such capture.

FIG. 23 (PRIOR ART) is a system diagram illustrating the existingmethodology for monitoring wireless performance on a client device.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing additional detail of an exemplaryarchitecture for capture of connectivity and accurate networkperformance data on client devices, even where the client device doesnot support such capture.

FIG. 25 (PRIOR ART) is a data diagram of an example 802.11 data packetand the associated content types.

FIG. 26 is a method diagram for wireless performance monitor, accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of problem detection usingmulti-factor event correlation.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a signal strength insufficiency situation.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a test cycle for capture of networkperformance data by a client device.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing usage of an external monitoring device tocapture and report network performance data for a different device withlimitations or restrictions on network data reporting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, a distributednetwork performance management system and method that distributes alarge portion of the network performance management to wireless clientdevices connected to the network. Rather than rely on a central serverto perform the bulk of network performance analysis, a distributednetwork performance management system offloads much of the work ofservice quality testing, reporting, and troubleshooting to wirelessclient devices that are connected to the network. It utilizes sparecomputing power and storage space on the wireless client devices toreduce the cloud operation costs of the system including such things asbandwidth requirements, data storage requirements, and data processingrequirements. In some embodiments, all or some of the locus of controlof network performance management may be shifted up or down thehierarchy of system components as needed. In some embodiments, thesystem employs client service levels and optimization algorithms todynamically adjust the level of sampling detail gathered in response tocertain network conditions. In some embodiments, the system usesmulti-factor event correlation to infer network conditions that are notdirectly measurable or identifiable. In some embodiments, the systemuses improved wireless client device system driver data capture andanalysis to obtain accurate measurements of device-specific networkperformance, even where such device-specific network performance are notsupported by the client device or the wireless access point to which theclient device is connected.

Network connected mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets may beused in conjunction with a central data analysis and test control serverto measure multiple parameters that reflect wireless network servicequality and performance. Each participating mobile device downloads andinstalls a test suite application. The test suite application contactsthe central data analysis and test control server and identifies themobile device. The central server responds with the coding andconfiguration for tests to be run. These tests may include wirelesssignal strength, wireless current channel, wireless frequency band, datathroughput, network capacity currently in use, radio attachment latencyand success, ping latency, remote resource access latency and remoteresource download bandwidth among many other parameters possible. Testparameters define details of the tests, including networks to be testedand target servers to be used in the test. Test parameters alsodetermine whether tests are run on-server's-request, periodically,continuously or initiated by user only. Tests performed by the testsuite may be chosen to reflect the needs and purpose of individualclients or test campaign at the central data analysis and test controlserver and then pushed to the remote devices just prior to the start oftesting. The identification code allows customizing a standard device ora group of standard devices with a generally available software for thepurpose of the customized test. The identification code is alsosubmitted with the test data points and allows storing and analyzing thedata centrally for a group of devices which belong to certainorganization.

In some embodiments, the wireless network service quality test systemmay be configured to receive information from third parties. In someembodiments, receipt of third party information may be facilitatedthrough an application programming interface (“API”). This data mayinclude data from devices such as wireless access points to receiveinformation that may include the manufacturer and model of the accesspoint, map of the area, access point location in the map, globalpositioning system (“GPS”) coordinates of the access points, location ofcertain devices at certain times as positioned by the network, currentattached clients, current error logs, and current firmware and softwarelevel, among other information. This information may be used to bettercomplete the network quality dataset both during routine testing and incase troubleshooting analytics are needed.

In some embodiments, the system may be configured to send informationsuch as warnings, alarms and wireless network performance data toon-device logs (e.g., system logs, application logs, etc.), externalservices such as logging services, log aggregators, ticketing services,etc., or to other devices. These data or messages may be routine, orinformative or may signify that service level of a particular aspect oraspects of a monitored wireless network has dropped below apre-designated minimal level required by the customer. Alternatively,the system may be configured to provide all raw measurement data toother applications for further processing. Analytics capability of thewireless network service quality test system may also be used to predictthe root cause of the service reduction and suggest possible remedialaction, if desired.

Finally, in some embodiments, data collected by the client devices maybe represented and displayed to best suit the customer's needs. In someembodiments, one or more selected network performance parameters may bedisplayed graphically over a pre-selected time period as a percentage ofknown performance target level of the tested network, possibly alsodepicting pre-decided minimal network performance. In other embodiments,a color-coded topographical type map may be displayed of the coveragearea of the tested network showing performance, signal levels, ornetwork throughput as differing colors as a function of location. Inother embodiments, the system may display adherence to pre-determinedperformance levels with colored cells on a map or floor plan. This wouldmake use of location reporting functions of the test devices, possiblyGPS based, data from online map providers, or location data gleaned fromthe wireless access points or other data such as propagation time andcomparative target signal strength of the test device. Location may alsobe entered by user of the device by pointing out a location on a map orfloor plan. Many other representations are possible, dependent on theneeds and goals of the customer. Data may be encoded in such a way so asto be used by another electronic system such as a third party networkmanager.

In some embodiments, mobile devices may be part of a group of mobiledevices, for example mobiles devices of a particular company, and may beidentified as such. Mobile devices that are part of a group may beassigned service levels and/or may be configured with test parametersand configurations for a particular network or networks.

In some embodiments, the system disclosed herein may be used to inferthe modulation and coding scheme index (MCS index) for a given wirelessconnection. Each MCS index represents a set of frequency, streams,modulation, and coding that establish the maximum data rate/bandwidththat can be achieved using that index. However, despite the important ofthe MCS index in wireless communications, some current operating systemsdon't report it, and it can't be effectively inferred by existingmethodologies for determining wireless performance. When two wirelessdevices connect with each other, they negotiate to determine whatsetting to use in what is called a “handshake.” A handshake involvessending parameters back and forth between the wireless devices todetermine the parameters under which they can communicate with oneanother. These parameters are codified into sets in the MCS index. Bycollecting data regarding data rates, error rates, and other parametersfrom the wireless data packets exchanged between the wireless devices,an MCS index can be inferred. Existing methodologies for determiningwireless performance are too inaccurate to allow an MCS index to becalculated, but by intercepting the wireless data packets during or justafter transmission, accuracy improved to the point where an MCS indexcan be inferred.

One or more different inventions may be described in the presentapplication. Further, for one or more of the inventions describedherein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should beappreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only andare not limiting of the inventions contained herein or the claimspresented herein in any way. One or more of the inventions may be widelyapplicable to numerous embodiments, as may be readily apparent from thedisclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detailto enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of theinventions, and it should be appreciated that other embodiments may beutilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and otherchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the particularinventions. Accordingly, one skilled in the art will recognize that oneor more of the inventions may be practiced with various modificationsand alterations. Particular features of one or more of the inventionsdescribed herein may be described with reference to one or moreparticular embodiments or figures that form a part of the presentdisclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specificembodiments of one or more of the inventions. It should be appreciated,however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or figures with reference to which they aredescribed. The present disclosure is neither a literal description ofall embodiments of one or more of the inventions nor a listing offeatures of one or more of the inventions that must be present in allembodiments.

Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the titleof this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or morecommunication means or intermediaries, logical or physical.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Tothe contrary, a variety of optional components may be described toillustrate a wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of theinventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more aspects ofthe inventions. Similarly, although process steps, method steps,algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, suchprocesses, methods and algorithms may generally be configured to work inalternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in thispatent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of describedprocesses may be performed in any order practical. Further, some stepsmay be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied asoccurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described afterthe other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one ormore of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustratedprocess is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once perembodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or that theymay only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carriedout or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some embodiments or someoccurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in a givenembodiment or occurrence.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of asingle device or article. Similarly, where more than one device orarticle is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a singledevice or article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle.

The functionality or the features of a device may be alternativelyembodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly describedas having such functionality or features. Thus, other embodiments of oneor more of the inventions need not include the device itself.

Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimesbe described in singular form for clarity. However, it should beappreciated that particular embodiments may include multiple iterationsof a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless notedotherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should beunderstood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code whichinclude one or more executable instructions for implementing specificlogical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations areincluded within the scope of embodiments of the present invention inwhich, for example, functions may be executed out of order from thatshown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverseorder, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understoodby those having ordinary skill in the art.

Definitions“Access point” as used herein means any device capable ofreceiving and re-transmitting wireless signals from client devices.

“Client” as used herein means any software or hardware that accessescomputing functionality made available by a server.

“Client device” as used herein means any computing device that accessesfunctionality made available by a server. The term client device often,but not exclusively, refers to a computing device that accesses acomputing service made available by a server via a network. Manycomputing devices are capable of being both client devices and servers.Client devices may be either wired, wireless, or both.

“Network” as used herein means two or more computing devices configuredto communicate with one another. Non-limiting examples of networks arelocal area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), wirelessnetworks, and virtual private networks (VPNs).

“Server” as used herein means any software or hardware that offerscomputing functionality for use by clients. Such functionality is oftencalled a “service,” and non-limiting examples of such functionality aresharing of files and storage, making computations and returning results,distributing computations among multiple processes or devices, andtransferring data.

“Wireless network” as used herein means two or more computing devicesconfigured to communicate with one another, wherein at least one of thecommunications in the network is performed wirelessly. Non-limitingexamples of wireless communication are WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellularcommunications.

Conceptual Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecture100 for measuring and reporting wireless network service quality usingremote test devices 115, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention. Under the embodiment, data concerning factors that affect theservice quality levels of a wireless network of interest 120 which mayinclude but are not limited to steady state signal strength, variabilityin signal strength, signal to noise ratio, packet retry rate, used datarate, current percentage of network traffic versus network capacity,radio attachment latency and success rate, resource request latency, webpage load time and success rate, access to certain applications overnetwork connection, voice quality, video quality, packet loss, jitter,location of the test device, and ping response time, among others knownto those skilled in the art, are collected by wireless network connectedremote test device 115 which most often will be an end-user's mobiledevice such as a smart phone or tablet running a pre-programmed networktest framework application. Remote network test device 115, may also,under some circumstances, be a desktop workstation, a laptop computer, akiosk, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a wireless access point,modems with wireless (“Wi-Fi”) or optical (“Li-Fi”) capability such asasynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”) or cable modems, ordedicated sensor devices for this purpose. Other test devicepossibilities exist; those put forth here are meant only as selectedexamples. A plurality of remote network test devices 115 may be used ineach network service quality test.

While simple spot tests of a network are possible using only the remotenetwork test device with the un-programmed network test frameworkapplication, the data collected in this fashion is not associated withdata collected from concurrent testing run by other mobile devices andthe data are not stored in such a way as to be later used to diagnosenetwork issues or render time based status results of a network. To runcontinuous or recurring ongoing tests that may be used in furtheranalysis and conclusion generation, the client must have an accountwhich holds, among other information the specific network tests to run,the duration of the data collection for each test, where appropriate,the periodicity at which each test should be run, the number ofrecurrences for each test, the transformations to be run on eachreturned data set and potentially, the manner in which results are to bepresented, to name a few examples of parameters that may comprise a testfrom the many known within the field. In this embodiment all of theseparameters, with the programming functions to execute the desirednetwork evaluation are stored in a cloud-based test code andconfiguration server 116 and, prior to testing, information, including aunique test suite ID, is transferred to a site's central analysis andcontrol server 111 from which remote network test devices 115 to be usedare programmed and configured. All data collected as part of the testsuite will have the unique test suite ID when sent to central analysisand control server 111 and may be stored in a data store 113 long-termas such including the unique ID for retrieval and future transformationby central analysis and control server 111. Central analysis and controlserver 111 also provides an API 112 that allows it to share output fromtest analysis to third party network equipment 124 such as a networkmanagement server, to name one of a plurality of examples, and toretrieve important information from wireless network equipment such asmaps with access point locations, wireless network firmware and softwareversions, network configuration information, traffic volume and qualityparameters from network equipment, wireless access point 121 parameterswhere such data as wireless standards being supported (examples: b, g,a, n, ac), security protocols enforced (examples: WPA, WPA2, WPAEnterprise), access point RF radio transmitted signal strength,broadcast bands enabled (examples: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz), collisions,retransmissions and percent capacity in use, to list a few members of alarger set of attributes, may be important to diagnosing wirelessnetwork service quality issues, proposing remedies, and sendingnotifications, capabilities for which the analytics engine of centralanalysis and control server 111 is programmed should network servicelevels fall below customer service level expectations.

Based upon programming and test system setup, the remote network testdevices may attempt to connect to and download or upload resources tocompany internal dedicated target test devices 122. These devices may beconnected to the same networked by cable or connected wirelessly. Theymay also be connected to another segment or network within the companyto allow testing of a wider range of infrastructure components. Theremay also be other devices present on a company's network infrastructurethat are critical to operations that are therefore tested 123. Anexample may be wired or wirelessly connected printers that the companyuses which, if not available for jobs, may cause process delays or workstoppages; some may print manufacturing orders, others invoices andstill others general duty jobs. Another example may be wirelesslyconnected or wired scanners. Service requirements for these resourcesare expected to be high and action in event of significant reduction orloss of function needed swiftly. Similarly, remote devices performingtest may be programmed to automatically log in to certain applicationslike warehouse control systems or sales management systems to testavailability of access to them and possibly perform a test query torecord overall service availability and response times. Measurement ofservice to external cloud 130 resources 131, 132, 133 is equallyimportant and testing connectivity and resource availability fromexternal dedicated targets 131, discretionary targets 133, perhaps agovernment printer or software as service systems that the company mightuse. The ability to reach a wide number of high volume web server webpages 132, for example FACEBOOK™, SKYPE™, CHROME™ and GOOGLE™ to list afew known to those skilled in the art, as well as customer critical webserver web pages is also a good indicator of wireless network servicehealth as it relates to traversing firewalls and gateways, and thehealth of web servers of specific concern to the customer, if included.

Devices accessing network use several services which control access toresources and provide basic connectivity information. DHCP servicesallocate IP addresses to devices connecting to network. Authenticationand authorization services like Radius provide a wide variety ofprotocols for authenticating the users prior to allowing access toresources. DNS services allowing use of URLs instead of numeric IPaddresses. Device with the test suite use and tests these services andreport qualities like success rates, delays and errors with theservices. This information is stored and analyzed for further actions.

Devices programmed for test may perform measurements in the backgroundmeasuring signal levels, data rates, retry rates and throughputs atdifferent times. While the device moves, signal levels vary or wheninstructed by network, device may change connection to another accesspoint as illustrated in FIG. 18. Assessing characteristics of theroaming behavior can be done be measuring signal level, signal to noiseratio, used data rate, throughput, packet loss and other parametersbefore and after the roaming event 1800. Measuring the time gap betweenthe last data packet from previous access point and the first packetfrom the new access point provides information on the packet flowinterruptions, which are especially important for real time traffic likevoice. Collecting this information allows comparing behavior ofdifferent device manufacturers, device models, software versions, accesspoints and different network settings and optimizing the service forbest user experience.

Resolving certain issues may require more detailed information than thenormal test suite can provide. Central analysis and control server mayinitiate a more detailed test procedure to selected devices. This mayinclude observing and measuring terminal behavior continuously,collecting logs from the terminal, collecting logs triggered by failureto meet predetermined service parameters, entering a special test modeor root/jail break mode which provides more information or recording thedevice display views at the time of the issue. Central control andanalysis server may also be used to ask user to perform certain taskthrough one or more administrative computers 114.

Test controls define when tests are performed. Test controls include alist of networks which are to be tested. In the absence of an includednetwork, no active test will be attempted. This allows collection ofdata only from networks of interest, minimized terminal batteryconsumption and bandwidth consumption if network is metered.

The system also has capability to accept and analyze user experienceconcerning wireless network service quality during testing 115. Eitheras a matter of normal test suite function or due to the return of testresults showing borderline or deficient service quality levels, usersmay be asked to comment either being given multiple preprogrammedanswers from which to choose or through freeform written response whichis interpreted by the central analysis and control server 111. Extradata provided by receiving user experience feedback provides a morecomplete picture of impact of lower service levels on actual userexperience.

It should be noted that placement components of the invention in thisembodiment were made for explanatory reasons. Some components, forexample the central analysis and control server, could reside elsewherewithout changing its function. The central analysis and control serverwould function similarly as a corporation local device or as a clouddevice, possibly a software as a service appliance subscribed to by theclient corporation.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an exemplary system architecture for adistributed network performance management system. The distributednetwork performance management system is a smart, flexible wirelessnetwork monitoring solution that can operate independently, as part of apre-existing ecosystem, or as part of a centralized, single-purposeservice. Because of its distributed nature, computing and storageresources can be allocated to any level of the system, from the controlserver 2001 to the client devices 2004 a-n based on network conditions(e.g., outages of sub-servers and services 2002, access points 2003, andconnections/disconnections of client devices 2004 a-n, etc.) andavailability of online resources (e.g., bandwidth, storage capacity,processing capacity, etc.). The system may include dedicated clientdevices 2004 a-n to play expanded roles not appropriate for clientdevices whose primary role is not network monitoring and management.Computing and storage resources can be dynamically re-allocated duringoperation, shifting them up and down between the control server 2001,services 2002, and client devices 2004 a-n, as network conditionschange. Thus, the locus of control of the system and the location ofprocessing and analysis may be shifted up or down the hierarchy ofsystem components as needed. This may be done by causing the controlserver to issue a set of configuration instructions comprising a levelof autonomy authorized for each client device. The level of autonomy mayrange from minimal (e.g., reporting and testing based on a testspre-selected in the configuration instructions and schedules pre-definedin the configuration instructions) to maximal (e.g., wherein the clientdevice itself determines, based on an application running on the device,what tests to select and perform, when to perform the tests, what testresult data to store, whether and how often to report to the controlserver, and how to dynamically change the frequency (i.e., periodicityof testing) and granularity (i.e. level of detail captured duringtesting) of testing based on changing network conditions). Upon receiptof the configuration instructions, each client device will establish anetwork testing regime consistent with the level of authority set forthin the configuration instructions. In some configurations, theconfiguration instructions may include instructions for a given clientdevice to act as an intermediary control server for a group of clientdevices, wherein that client device issues configuration instructions tothe group in a manner similar to the control server, and the groupreports back to that client device (acting as an intermediary controlserver). The client device acting as an intermediary control serverwill, as part of its network testing regime, determine whether and howoften to report its group's data back to the control server, based onits level of autonomy.

In some embodiments, analytic and control functions may be shifted tocertain layers or levels of the hierarchy. For example, keeping track ofthe number of clients which should provide sample data for an accesspoint may be managed by a computing device at any level (i.e., by one ofthe client devices in a group using a certain access point, a computingdevice that aggregates data from several access points, or a morecentralized server that oversees many access points), and that trackingfunction may be shifted up, down, or laterally, depending on therequirements of the system. For example, if the computing deviceassigned to perform the tracking is experiencing connectivity problems,the responsibility for that tracking may be shifted up the hierarchy toa device not so affected. Conversely, it may be the case that a morecentralized component does not have sufficient computing capacity toanalyze all of the network data that it is receiving, and may distributethe analysis of that data to lower levels of the hierarchy. In thisembodiment, the system comprises a control server 2001, a service 2002such as a mobile phone service, an online cloud computing platform, a VMor hardware device running an application or intra-company networkcontroller, a plurality of wireless access points 2003, and a pluralityof client devices 2004 a-n, which may have different configurations. Insome embodiments, the access points 2003 are not part of the system as,for example, when the service 2002 is an online platform which can beaccessed from any location through public or third-party access points2003.

Regarding the frequency and granularity of testing, in some cases, thefrequency of testing (i.e., the periodicity of testing, or time betweentests) may need to stay constant to identify a problem quickly while thegranularity of the captured results (i.e., the level of detailinvestigated and/or captured during testing) may vary dramatically toavoid waste (e.g., scan data results). In other cases, frequency mayneed to be reduced and granularity may be held constant (e.g. testing ofthroughput results). In some cases, both frequency and granularity oftesting may be adjusted or held constant.

The control server 2001 is responsible for oversight of the system anddecision-making, such as allocation of computing resources and storage,monitoring and reporting overall network status, assigning testing tasksto client devices, and receiving, storing, and analyzing networkperformance data from client devices. However, because the system isdistributed by design, many of these tasks can be shifted to the clientdevices 2004 a-n, utilizing spare computing resources and storage on theclient devices 2004 a-n, such as idle processor time or a configurablepercentage of available storage space. For example, the control server2001 may configure client devices via remote instruction regarding whichtests to run, how frequently such tests should be run, and thresholdsfor testing and reporting, and schedules and other conditions forreporting data. The application on the client devices 2004 a-n may thenrun in the background, independently conducting system testing asconfigured by the control server 2001, analyzing results, storing testresults locally, and reporting them as scheduled. In this case, theclient devices 2004 a-n act as independent agents, gathering, analyzing,storing, and reporting data. Alternately, the control server 2001 maytake a more active role, directly instructing client devices 2004 a-n torun certain tests and report the results, with the control server 2001storing the data and conducting the analyses. In this case, the clientdevices 2004 a-n are used more like sensors that simply report backtheir data to the control server 2001. A wide range of such allocationsis possible, which gives the system tremendous flexibility in respondingto changing network conditions.

The service 2002 may be any type of service, platform, system, or devicethat allows access by one or more client devices 2004 a-n through one ormore access points. For example, the service 2002 may be a mobile phoneservice whose access points are cellular towers, an online cloudcomputing platform accessible via any access point that provides accessto the Internet, a cloud-based virtual private network (VPN) networkingsystem with access points owned by the cloud-based VPN or the client(e.g., a cloud-based VPN connecting a company with multiple regionaloffices, each of which has its own local access points), or a localnetwork controller device with access points (e.g., a single officecompany with a network controller and a plurality of access points).Access points 2003 are any devices capable of receiving andre-transmitting wireless signals from client devices 2004 a-n.Typically, these will be dedicated devices such as wireless routers andcellular towers, but may by client devices 2004 a-n, which can beconfigured to act as access points 2003. The client devices 2004 a-n areany devices capable of wireless communication. They may be of multipledifferent types (e.g., mobile phones, desktop computers, tabletcomputers, internet of things devices, etc.) and there may be multipleinstances of each type of device in any given configuration on anetwork. Unlike access points 2003, client devices will typically havegeneral-purpose computing capabilities, which can be configured toperform network testing activities and report results back to thecontrol server 2001, using, for example, a software applicationinstalled on the client device that can be configured or controlled bythe control server 2001. However, some client devices, such as Internetof Things (IoT) devices may have more limited capabilities and yet canstill be used as client devices 2004 a-n.

It is important to note that a “network” is used to denote any groupingof client devices 2004 a-n that access a common service 2002. Forexample, it can be used to denote a local group of commonly-owned accesspoints, client devices, and associated hardware (for example, a WiFinetwork in the headquarters building of a company) or can be used in abroader sense to denote a group of individually-owned client deviceshaving a subscription to an online platform and accessing the onlineplatform through a combination of privately-owned andpublicly-accessible access points or a group of computing devicesconnected through a virtual private network (VPN). For the sake ofclarity, only a single service 2002 is shown in the diagram,representing one “network” of client devices. However, the controlserver (or multiple control servers) may manage any number of suchnetworks for any number of companies or groups.

In some embodiments, the client devices 2004 a-n may be configured touse an open API, enabling use of the client devices 2004 a-n withdifferent types of, or multiple operators of, control servers 2001. Inother words, the client devices 2004 a-n could be configured to providenetwork performance testing and data to multiple different controlservers 2001 which may have different owners or operators. For example,the application installed on a client devices 2004 a-n could run testsfor, and provide data to, an operator of one network when certain accesspoints are accessed and run tests for, and provide data to, an operatorof a different network when other access points are used. Many differentconfigurations are possible, allowing the client devices 2004 a-n to beused as a roaming network performance testing unit and data provider,which may be a service subscribed to by operators.

The control server 2001 may assign different operational modes todifferent client devices depending on network conditions or the types oftesting desired. For example, the control server may dynamically assignactive or passive test execution to client devices based on any networkcondition or type of testing desired, for example: desired voice, video,or throughput test coverage per access point, per network per clienttype (e.g. Windows vs Mac), or per client configuration/capability, orserver connectivity and latency per server by ping or web downloads,etc. Further, the control server 2001 may base configurations oroperating modes of client devices on statistical sampling methods toensure representative sampling large enough to achieve statisticalsignificance across the client device 2004 a-n, access points 2003, andnetwork population while minimizing the active test processing load onthe network and client device 2004 a-n components. The testingconfigurations and operational modes assigned by the control server 2001may be further organized by population groups (e.g. a particularcustomer organization) to optimize the network performance managementfor the client device 2004 a-n type mix (e.g., high/low bandwidthconnections, high/low spare processing power, frequentlyconnected/disconnected, etc.) enabling optimal client device and networkcoverage while minimizing the number of connected clients devices neededto achieve representative network performance data. The testingconfigurations and operational modes assigned by the control server 2001may be further organized by error rate thresholds by test type, physical(street) location, access point groupings at a particular location,client device capabilities, network type, and other network conditions.

Depending on the system configuration, the control server 2001 or othersystem components may provide reporting of network conditions toadministrators through a variety of means, including, but not limited toemail, webhook, SMS, push-enabled communication services, or otherpublishing mechanisms supported by the network (e.g., REST calls). Thisdoes not exclude, of course, obtaining certain reported data throughother means, such as phone calls by a customer to a help desk to reporta network performance problem.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an exemplary system architecturedistributed network performance management system which uses serviceslevels to control the volume and flow of network testing traffic. Inthis embodiment, the control server 2101, access points 2106 a-n, andclient devices 2107 a-n operate in a manner similar to that describedabove. However, service levels are added to the system to differentiateand control the volume of network performance testing traffic and tohelp ensure statistically valid sampling of larger networks. In thiscase, a service level manager 2102 may be added in between the controlserver and access points to manage the level of service provided tocertain groups of client devices (e.g., the company-owned mobile devicesin a given company). The service level manager 2102 can take some of theload from the control server 2101 in terms of configuring client devicesand their operating modes, depending on the level of service for which aparticular organization has contracted. Particularly in the case ofmobile devices, client devices 2107 a-n may not always connect throughthe same access points, so the network performance testing data fromeach client device can be routed to the appropriate service levelhandler 2103, 2104, 2105 for an organization based on a client deviceidentifier (which may be a MAC address, or some other identifier).

In some cases, a manual or ad-hoc level of service 2103 may be provided.For individual client devices 2107 a-n or small groups of client devices2107 a-n, for example, statistical sampling methods may be irrelevant,or the level of network performance testing traffic may be high inrelation to available bandwidth, or the cost of a higher level ofservice may be too great. In such cases, the client device 2107 a-ncould be configured to perform network testing either at the request ofthe user of the client device 2107 a-n, or possibly triggered only bynetwork conditions indicating poor network performance. In someembodiments, the client device may be configured such that the user ofthe client device can initiate a network performance test, see theresults and/or and have the test results sent directly to a supportcenter (aka help desk, technical support, etc.) wherein, when the usercalls the support center, the support center staff have test results forthat particular device available to assist with troubleshooting theproblem of the user. In other embodiments, the client device may beconfigured to perform a voice/audio test, wherein a voice or audiosample is sent to and received from a server, analyzed for audioquality, and the client device provides an indication of voice/audioquality (e.g., a green, yellow, or red indicator). In some embodiments,if the client device detects a major network or connectivity problem,the client device may automatically notify the user of the nature of theproblem (e.g., the client device has lost its connection with its domainname system (DNS) server, and thus has no Internet access) and providethe user with a support center phone number to call to report theproblem and get help.

In some cases, a limited or periodic service 2104 may be moreappropriate. For mid-sized groups or organizations, statistical samplingmay be relevant, but the cost of “always on” or full service may be toohigh, in which case limited or periodic testing may provide acceptablenetwork performance management in terms of balancing of cost, bandwidthutilization, and sufficient network performance testing detail. Forexample, a limited service 2104 may, for example, run most tests on userdemand and results may be submitted to their configured destination(help desk), perform connectivity testing on an “always-on” basis, butsubmit results only on user demand, locally store test result historywhich can be collected periodically by control server, periodicallychange some client devices 2107 a-n to the full service operating modeto gather additional data in response to certain network events.

In some cases, a full or always-on service 2105 may be most appropriate.For large-sized groups or organizations, networks may be large, andmaximization of network performance (or reliability) may be a keyconcern, the ability to capture an appropriate level of detail will becritical. In such cases, a full or always-on service 2105 may beutilized, in which data are continuously sampled from astatistically-representative sample of the client devices 2107 a-n onthat network, and continuously managed by the service level manager. Afull service 2105 may, for example, run tests on a schedule based ontheir test profile instructions, may perform passive tests run on aconfigurable schedule, often as frequently as the platform allows, mayperform active tests on a configurable schedule, may have connectivitytesting “always-on” with results submitted continuously.

In all service levels, client device monitoring and reporting of networkperformance may be dynamically scaled according to network conditions.For example, networks tend to perform acceptably most of the time, sogathering of large amounts of network performance data during periods ofgood performance simply wastes computing and storage resources. However,when problematic network events do occur, it is often necessary togather more detailed data to troubleshoot the problem. The controlserver 2101 and/or the service level manager 2102 may dynamicallyinstruct client devices to perform additional and more frequent testingif reported data indicate a network problem. Alternately, the clientdevices 2107 a-n themselves may be configured to dynamically adjust thetypes and frequency and granularity (i.e., level of detail capturedduring testing) of testing to increase the level of detail available ifa network problem is indicated. In some cases, for example poorconnectivity or throughput, these additional data may be stored locallyon the client devices 2107 a-n, and reported after the network problemimproves. As examples of such operation, client devices 2107 a-n may beconfigured to summarize and store test results and analysis which fallin acceptable performance range in local storage for a configurable timeperiod, and detail and store test results and analysis which falloutside acceptable performance range in local storage for a configurabletime period. In some embodiments, client devices 2107 a-n may beconfigured to operate as a stand-alone client device. In that case theymay be configured to send a notification to “help-desk” or otherconsumer of problem information e.g. Network team etc. In someembodiments, client devices 2107 a-n may be configured to provideanonymous data to the control server 2101.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an exemplary architecture for capture ofconnectivity and network performance data on client devices. Here, aclient device 2210 is shown with certain key components for capturingconnectivity and network performance data. A wireless device 2213 is ahardware device containing a wireless radio with receive and transmitcapabilities. The wireless device 2213 may be configured to use any ofnumerous types of wireless frequencies and protocols, including, but notlimited to WiFi, Bluetooth, and cellular. A wireless device driver 2214is installed on the client device 2210, which is software that allowsthe operating system 2215 to interface with, and control the operationof, the wireless device 2213. System logs 2211 are stored by theoperating system 2215 and other components of the client device 2210containing details regarding operation of the client device 2210 and itscomponents, and often contain useful information about connectivity andnetwork performance. A software application 2212 (often called asoftware agent when used in this fashion) is installed on the clientdevice 2210 to gather, analyze, and report connectivity and networkperformance data for the client device 2210. The software agent 2212typically runs as a background process, and is not visible to the user,except when providing network status reports to the user.

The software application 2212 may either passively monitor the wirelessdevice driver 2214, the operating system 2215, and the system logs 2211for network performance data, or may conduct active network testing.When the wireless device 2213 attempts to connect with an access point2201, the software application 2212 gathers data regarding networkevents, conditions, and performance issues such as, but not limited totype of wireless device hardware and firmware, version of wirelessdevice driver, client device hardware and software, operating systemtype and version, type of connection (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.),speed of connection (determined by handshake), failed 802.11authentications, DNS failures, no IP address/bad IP address, no internetconnectivity, etc. The software application 2212 may perform networkperformance analyses on the data such as signal strength, nominalconnection speed, throughput speed, and the like, and may performcalculations such as average, mean, and mode, or percentile, quartile,etc., of certain metrics. Changes to metrics over time may be recordedand correlated with network performance impacts. In some embodiments,the software application 2212 may be configured with a wirelessperformance monitor that uses packet and frame filtering to extract andinfer network performance data that are either not otherwise availableor are not supported by any other components or functionality of theclient device 2210.

FIG. 23 (PRIOR ART) is a system diagram illustrating the existingmethodology for monitoring wireless network performance. An antenna2310, or multiple antennae, receives wireless signals used tocommunicate between devices. The wireless device 2320, in conjunctionwith the wireless device driver 2330, processes the signals into datapackets complying with 802.11 standards. The wireless device 2320forwards the data packets, through a device driver 2340, to theoperating system 2350 of the computer to which the wireless device isattached. The operating system 2350 periodically samples wirelessperformance data 2360. In response to system calls by a user levelwireless performance monitoring application 2370 (typically running onthe same computer as the operating system 2350), the operating system2350 provides the sampled wireless performance data for analysis.Because of the various layers, interfaces, and inconsistent operatingsystem sampling rates, this methodology can be very inaccurate.

FIG. 24 is a system diagram of a WiFi performance monitor 2410,according to an embodiment. In this embodiment, the software application2212 is configured with a wireless performance monitor that uses packetand frame filtering to extract and infer network performance data thatare either not otherwise available or are not supported by any othercomponents or functionality of the client device 2210. The packetdetector 2411 may be a dedicated hardware unit or software runningeither on a wireless device or a computer to which a wireless device islocated, and is configured to intercept or receive packets from awireless network for further analysis. In one embodiment, the packetsare intercepted as they are sent from a wireless device 2405 to a devicedriver 2340 for further interaction with an operating system. A framefilter 2412 operates on raw packet data received from a packet detector2411, filtering out frame data that do not contain useful information(for example, empty/null frames). A data extractor and aggregator 2413may extract and aggregate relevant data from packets, such as data ratesand retry rates and pass it to a data analyzer 2414 to analyze wirelessnetwork performance such as actual throughput versus nominal data rates.

The wireless performance monitor 2410 monitors and evaluates wirelessconfigurations and capabilities via protocol packet analysis, notingchanges over time and correlating with performance impacts. By analyzingframe data from wireless data packets, the wireless performance monitor2410 can extract information about connectivity and network performancethat is typically not reported by any other client device 2210 system,including the operating system. For example, depending on theinformation contained in the frames, the wireless performance monitory2410 may be able to extract such information as an access point's vendoridentity, the access point's capabilities, data rates supported, thenetwork type/mode (e.g., for WiFi connections, 802.11 a/g/n/ac/ax),features supported (e.g., for WiFi connections, 802.11 k, v, r), andsimilar information.

Further, the wireless performance monitor 2410 can be used to inferinformation not supported by a client device or not provided by theclient device with sufficient accuracy. In some embodiments, forexample, the wireless performance monitor 2410 nay be configured toinfer the modulation and coding scheme index (MCS index) for a givenwireless connection. Each MCS index represents a set of frequency,streams, modulation, and coding that establish the maximum datarate/bandwidth that can be achieved using that index, and is animportant piece of information in evaluating certain wireless networkperformance metrics.

Where the operating system 2215 of the client device 2210 supports MCScapture and reporting, the MCS index may be sourced from the operatingsystem 2215. However, despite the importance of the MCS index inwireless communications, many client device 2210 operating systems 2215don't support capturing or reporting of it. Where the MCS index cannotbe sourced from the operating system 2215, there was heretofore no meansof obtaining it. However, the MCS index can be inferred from analysis offrame data from wireless data packets.

In order to infer the MCS coding, both the access point's capabilitiesand client device capabilities must be known. This information can begathered during the connectivity handshake, when two wireless devicesnegotiate to determine what settings to use. A handshake involvessending parameters back and forth between the wireless devices todetermine the parameters under which they can communicate with oneanother. These parameters are codified into sets in the MCS index. Bycollecting data regarding data rates, error rates, and other parametersfrom the wireless data packets exchanged between the wireless devices,an MCS index can be inferred. Existing methodologies for determiningwireless performance are too inaccurate to allow an MCS index to becalculated, but by intercepting the wireless data packets during or justafter transmission, accuracy improved to the point where an MCS indexcan be inferred. Once the MCS index has been inferred, other informationmay be calculated such as calculating throughput based on retry ratesdetermined from packet inspection.

Certain types of testing may be contingent or otherwise influenced uponobserved station utilization conditions as determined by monitoringsystem calls to the operating system's 2215 for resources which mayeither be negatively impacted by running a test or which might lead tofalse positives or other inaccuracies in network performance monitoring.For example, when the client device 2210 is running ahigh-bandwidth/CPU-intensive task like video conferencing, running amean opinion score (MOS) test or a throughput test will likely reduceavailable bandwidth or computing resources and interfere with the videoconference. Other tests may be enabled or restricted depending on thecapabilities of the client device 2210 and its components. Some testsmay also be selected as a result of the station's conditions forexample, intermittent connectivity error might lead to more or differentconnectivity testing.

FIG. 25 (PRIOR ART) is a data diagram of an example 802.11 data frameand the associated content types. Part of an 802.11 data packet is aframe control (“FC”) 2505, which indicates the type of frame (control,management, or data) that is present in the packet, and provides controlinformation. Control information may include whether the frame is to orfrom a distribution system, fragmentation information, and privacyinformation. Duration/Connection ID (“D/I”) 2510 is also present in adata frame. If used as a duration field, it indicates the time (inmicroseconds) the channel will be allocated for successful transmissionof a media access control (“MAC”) frame. In some control frames, thisfield contains an association, or connection, identifier. Also presentare a possible plurality of addresses 2515, 2520, 2525, the number andmeaning of the address fields varying depending on context. Thetransmitter address 2520 and receiver address 2515 are the MAC addressesof stations joined to the basic service set that are transmitting andreceiving frames over the network. A service set identifier (SSID)identifies the wireless network over which a frame is transmitted. Thesource address 2520 and destination address 2525 are the MAC addressesof stations, wireless or otherwise, that are the ultimate source anddestination of this frame. The source address may be identical to thetransmitter address and the destination address may be identical to thereceiver address. The sequence control (“SC”) 2530 portion of a framecontains a 4-bit fragment number subfield, used for fragmentation andreassembly, and a 12-bit sequence number used to number frames sentbetween a given transmitter and receiver. The frame body 2535 contains aMAC service data unit (“MSDU”) or a fragment of an MSDU. The MSDU is alogical link control (“LLC”) protocol data unit or MAC controlinformation. Lastly, a frame check sequence 2540 is included, which is a32-bit cyclic redundancy check (“CRC”) which may provide error checkingcapabilities.

Further, a table showing the first ten modulation and coding scheme(MCS) indices is shown 2550, illustrating the sets of frequency,streams, modulation, and coding in each MCS index, and which establishthe maximum data rate/bandwidth that can be achieved using that index.However, despite the important of the MCS index in wirelesscommunications, many operating systems don't report it.

FIG. 26 is a method diagram for wireless performance monitoring. In afirst step, wireless data packets are intercepted as the are received bythe device driver, as they are sent out from the device driver, or both2601. While in many cases capturing the wireless data packets before orafter the device driver may be sufficient, for some inference cases itis necessary to capture the wireless data packets both before and afterthe driver. An example of this situation is estimating frame duration inorder to infer the approximate MCS index. The method further comprisesthe steps of filtering out frames that do not contain useful information2602 (e.g. empty/null frames), and extracting and aggregating relevantdata from packets 2603, such as data rates and retry rates, and usingthe data to analyze wireless network performance 2604, such as actualthroughput versus nominal data rates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 200 formeasuring and reporting wireless network service quality using remotedevices, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Toperform reproducible testing at least one, probably more than one, ofremote wireless network testing devices 115 as depicted in FIG. 1 mustbe programmed with the suite of tests to be run 201 as depicted in FIG.1 116, 111, 115. These remote test devices 115 then run the testsspecified in test suite 202, which are attached to a unique test suitespecific ID, such as but not limited to: wireless signal strength attest device location; wireless network BSSID; ability and latencylogging onto the wireless network; negotiated wireless standard; signallevel, wireless signal band or bands offered; ping round trip times;ability to upload and download data to LAN resident and cloud baseddedicated targets, if available, measuring latency, data bandwidth,voice quality, video quality, packet loss, jitter; ability to accessspecified web pages and retrieve resources; ability to access thecompany's wireless phone carrier, if applicable; and ability to contactdedicated or critical phone targets and upload or download either voiceor other data based on the needs of the customer. There are of courseother tests known to the art and no feature precludes the invention fromperforming any of them should a customer desire. While there arecircumstances where the results of one or more wireless network testsare stored on the remote wireless network test device such as inabilityto functionally access the target wireless network or tests in theprogrammed test suite that specify that a second RF radio based wirelessnetwork be probed where only one RF radio exists on the test device,where, in both cases results are stored and transmitted, each associatedwith the test suite's ID upon re-establishment of connection with thecentral analysis and control server 111 as depicted in FIG. 1 routinely;however, test result data are transmitted to central analysis andcontrol server 111 with the test suite specific ID at time of testcompletion 203 such that interim results are as up-to-data as possible.At the central analysis and control server, test result data from remotewireless service quality test devices 115 may be combined withinformation retrieved from third party sources 204 such as wirelessaccess points 121, 141, that serve the tested wireless networks 120,140. Examples of information provided by wireless access points may be,but is not limited to: RF Radio transmit strength, BSSID of the accesspoint, wireless standards supported, wireless standards (example: Wi-Fib, g, a, n, ac) in use as well as device or devices using each standard,percent bandwidth capacity under which the access point is currentlyoperation and any recent warnings or failures in the access point'slogs. Information may also be retrieved from other third party devices124 as available. Central analysis and control server 111 may alsoreceive user perception data 205 concerning the function of the wirelessnetwork during testing, either through pre-designed multiple choicequestionnaires or interpreted freeform text descriptions, this isespecially probable if service deficiencies are determined by othertests in the suite as knowing user experience during those instances maybe especially helpful. Within central analysis and control server 111,data received from previously mentioned sources and possibly othersources specific to the needs or the test suite customer, aretransformed using pre-programmed analysis functions to produce arepresentation of all tested aspects of network function. While theserepresentations may be purely numerical, such a display is verydifficult to quickly analyze and results are thus usually depicted as aproportion of 100% function with customer-decided minimum service levelsas line graphs over a time period of interest 206. Given possession offloorplans and wireless access point maps, the system may also displayservice quality, coverage, congestion, failures, errors, user feedbackand similar factors as colored topographical like maps to makeinterpreting the data and possible problem areas as easy as possible.Drops in service quality below certain limits may have profoundconsequences on customer operations and therefore central analysis andcontrol server 111 has APIs to communicate with third party alarm andcontrol systems 207. For example, over the past decade the proportion ofhospital monitors and actuators that are wirelessly connected hasgreatly increased due to obvious convenience. However, if wirelessservice quality falls below a certain level within parts or all of thehospital for some reason, other methods for connect and control of thatequipment is needed. The API of the central analysis and control servermay communicate with the hospital's administration system to issue theneeded advisories and alarms per hospital protocol. The API would, ofcourse, function similarly in many other less drastic situations, butthe server also includes analytics programming that allows it to combinedata from different sources and different test suite which may uncoversmall irregularities in previous service levels or current equipmentfunction such that a specific root cause and remedy for an issue at handmay be proposed by the central analysis and control module with the data206. It may be that at least one test in the test suite is meant torecur a certain number of time, possibly indefinitely. The recurrence oftests and their time of run are controlled within the programming 208and tests will continue to repeat automatically for the lengthprogrammed. Finally, results and statistics may be displayed, along withnotifications about marginal service or failing equipment, and finalcleanup and storage of data will be performed 209.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 300 by whichthe system may programmed with customer specific test suites accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention. As previously mentioned, itis possible for an unregistered system user to download the wirelessnetwork service quality framework application 301 onto a compatibleremote device (see FIG. 1, 115) and run basic network service qualitytests 302. While the results of the tests may be individually reviewedon the remote device 302, it may not be uploaded to a central analysisserver (see FIG. 1, 111) for further analysis or combined with othertests that might be run at approximately the same time either on thesame remote test device or on another remote test device. Nor may theresults be saved for later specific retrieval 303, and are therefore,under these conditions only and isolated snapshot of network function.If a user wants to take full advantage of the capabilities of the system304, she must sign up for service, in this embodiment the user signs upfor 100 remote test device service 305. At this point an account for theuser is created on the central server, a unique ID code is created forher and she is consulted concerning the specific tests that would bemost useful under her current wireless network operating conditions andperceived issues 306. This results in a suite of tests being created forthe user connected to her unique account ID. When prepared to starttesting the user need only enter her unique account ID into the runningframework application running on each of her remote network test devices307, which will result in her pre-programmed test suite being downloaded308 and run 310 on each of her remote network test devices and thisdata, associated with the unique account ID may be stored 309 and usedwith data bearing the same ID to perform in depth, coordinated analysisby the central server 312. With the unique ID, it is now also possibleto create more complex testing protocols that are run on each remotenetwork testing device associated with the user's ID 311, single testsmay be run, continuous tests may be run, tests may be run periodicallyin the background without intervention, or tests may be uploaded andthen triggered by central server. Finally, as the testing runs mature atthe user's location, the tests may be modified 313 to better reflect theuser's needs and these revised tests seamlessly uploaded to the remotenetwork test devices from the central server 314 without remote testdevice operator intervention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor central analysis and control server to analyze network servicequality using remote devices, according to a preferred embodiment of theinvention. As seen, 400 central analysis and control server 111, and 410has many components expected for a computing device FIG. 5, 20 such as,but not limited to: operating system 420, memory 430, CPU 455 I/Ocontroller module 465, video card 470, storage drive 495 and wirednetwork access module 475. In addition to these components, the centralanalysis and control drive also has a wireless service quality testcontrol module 450, which receives customer specified test suites andmodification parameters from a centralized possibly cloud based wirelessnetwork service quality test coding and parameter data store 490 thenuses that programming to configure a plurality of mobile wirelessnetwork service quality test devices 115, which run the test suites andcollect the correct, customer-requested data. Wireless networkperformance test data are sent back to the wireless service quality testtransform module 440 of central analysis and control server 410 wherespecific preprogrammed algorithms are performed against them toestablish performance levels using multiple aspects of wireless networkoperations additional data received from third party sources, such aswireless access points within the probed wireless network and receivedthrough application programming interface (API) module 460 may also takepart in the calculations. The analytics engine module 445 may also takepart in the routine calculations. Results of the test suite may be shownto end users on system interaction display 480, which may range from adedicated display and keyboard on the central server to a serial ornetwork attached workstation, in one or more formats specified by thecustomer prior to test setup FIG. 12.

Deficiencies in network performance compared to customer service levelrequirements may invoke the collection of additional information throughboth the mobile wireless network service quality test device 115 andcommunication with third party devices through the central server's API460. All gathered data may then be submitted to the central server'sanalytics engine module where it, data obtained from wireless equipmentmanufacturers and vendors, specialized predictive programming and datastored from past test wireless network runs may be used to formulate aroot cause. Notifications, warnings and alarms specified by the customerwill also be implemented at this point. All data will be saved in datastore 485 for possible further analysis and record keeping.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method 500 by whichcentral analysis and control server may interact with other componentsof the system and analyze network performance test data according to apreferred embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the centralanalysis and control server 111, 410 first programs a plurality ofmobile network test devices 115 with test suite and connected parameters501. These test may recur automatically at set time intervalsindefinitely, recur a predetermined number of times either regularly orpseudo-randomly, or occur one time only. Mobile network test devicesthen carry out those tests and send the wireless network performancedata back to the centralized analysis and control server 502. Thecentralized server then applies a plurality of customer specifiedpreprogrammed analytical functions on that data 504 and may also employdata obtained directly from third party wireless network equipment suchas, but not limited to: wireless access points and signal amplifiers andrepeaters 503. A major focus of analysis is to determine whether thereare any wireless network performance parameter that fall belowpre-established customer service quality level minimums 505. When allparameters are found to be at or above pre-established customer servicequality level minimums, results are sent to long term storage 508 andthey are presented as per specified customer rendering choices 507.However, if any of the parameters specified by the customer to have aminimum acceptable service quality level are found to function belowthat level 506 customer required, notifications warnings may beautomatically sent, and, based on severity and equipment probed, alarmsmay be activated and messages sent to third party equipment monitoringand control systems through the central server's API 112, 460. Allresults are placed into long term storage 508.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating information that is processed bycentral analysis and control server analytics engine according to apreferred embodiment of the invention. Within the embodiment 600,central server analytics engine module 445 retrieves and makes use ofmany data from a plurality of sources to predict wireless networkequipment that may be cycling towards failure or after a failure orsignificant deficiency in service has been discovered though testing,steps that may remedy the issue. Information employed comes from a setthat includes the test result database 485, test configuration controls601 and other sources that may include, but are not limited to, WLANmanagement data—tag-specific access points reporting errors in log,non-responsive 602, mobile network management data 603—to inform onwireless phone coverage issues, location service data (whether testdevice is indoors or outdoors)—test devices outside the building mayshow poor service, possibly by design 604, wired network managementdata-issues with wired network service may significantly affect resourceavailability outside of wireless service performance 605, deep packetinspection data—streams of packets from host, or malformed packets fromhost may be easily halted and service quality restored 606, applicationperformance management data—heavily used mobile wireless network testdevice may issue inaccurate performance data 607, application data 608and current alarm and notification status—In times of issue havenotifications been sent, alarms activated 609. As described above rootcause and potential remedies may be offered by the central analyticsengine module 601.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system architecturefor mobile wireless service quality test device employed to analyzenetwork service quality using remote devices, according to a preferredembodiment of the invention 700. The mobile wireless network servicequality test device of the embodiment incorporates many of thecomponents present in any handheld mobile device such as: antenna 711,RF transceiver and amplifiers 712, speaker 723, CPU and assorted devicecontrollers 713, display controller 714, input controller 715, operatingsystem 717, memory 721, mobile network controller 716—found in allwireless phone and data network connecting devices and an LCD display,not depicted for simplicity. The device operates as a wireless networkperformance probe through use of wireless network service quality testframework application 718 which in itself can run a plurality of simplenetwork performance tests as a standalone device and when programmedwith specific customer wireless network test suites by the system'scentral analysis and control server 450 can run a larger number of testsand send them back to the central server for further analysis, storageand reporting. Tests are run using the networking resources of thedevice through the wireless access circuitry present 711, 712, 713, 716.Results of each test which may include, but are not limited to steadystate signal strength, variability in signal strength, signal to noiseratio, current percentage of network traffic versus network capacity,radio attachment latency, resource request latency, location of the testdevice, and ping response time are collected and transmitted to thecentral analysis server by direction of wireless test data collectionand delivery module 719. The wireless network test device may alsodisconnect from the primary network temporarily to perform such tests aspacket analysis and to scan the radio bandwidths used by the customer'swireless network for interference, multi-path effects. Similarly, thewireless network test device 710 may disconnect from the internalwireless network to measure the signal strength, connection latency anddata rate of the customer's mobile phone provider's voice and dataconnection. Those skilled in the art may quickly recall other tests tobe run, the list provided here is illustrative and should not be thoughtas limiting to the invention. When not connected to the central analysisand control server 410, the mobile wireless network test device uses itsresident network test application data store 720. Once connection to thecentral analysis and control server is reestablished, the wireless testdata collection and delivery module 719 retrieves the stored data fromthe network test application data store 720 and transmits it to thecentral analysis and control server 410. Under certain circumstances,the mobile wireless test device may send information inquiries to knownhigh volume web sites such as, but not limited to FACEBOOK™, SKYPE™,CHROME™ and GOOGLE™ using wireless test application inbound API 722 aspart of a test suite.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method by whichmobile wireless network service quality device may operate to collectstore and transmit test suite data according to a preferred embodimentof the invention 800. The mobile wireless network service quality devicereceives coding and parameters for a customer directed networkperformance test suite from the central analysis and coding server 801which it stores 802 and uses in conjunction with a preloaded residenttest framework application 803. The tests of the test suite uploaded maybe executed interactively or programmed to run in the background,possibly in an automatic recurring fashion that continues indefinitelyor is finite in their repetition 803. Single execution tests, are ofcourse, also possible. Occasionally, a test or group of tests causemobile wireless network test device to temporarily disconnect fromprimary wireless network and thus central analysis and control server,the target of collected wireless network performance data. Unexpecteddisruptions in primary network connection can also cause temporary lossof contact with central analysis and control server 804. Under theseconditions wireless performance test data collected by mobile wirelessnetwork test device are stored in a test framework initiated data store805. All wireless network performance data is eventually transmitted tothe central analysis and control server 410 for transformation and longterm storage 806.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating methods by which users of wirelessnetworks being tested might submit their perceived experience to thewireless network service quality test system according to a preferredembodiment of the invention 900. It is often helpful when executingequipment performance tests, wireless network service quality tests inthis case, to also know how a particular service level is perceived bythe equipment users. Correlation between very positive performance testreadouts and a similar user perception of service quality solidifies thevalidity test. Similarly, understanding the effect of what is consideredmediocre, or unacceptable performance test readouts on user perceptionis equally important, if the test results are poor but the user responseis positive at the same time, the tests employed may be inaccurate ormay not be calibrated correctly. The invention may allow the collectionof user experience feedback as part of wireless network service qualitytesting. In the current embodiment of the invention, user wirelessnetwork performance experience is collected using an applet that is partof the wireless network testing framework on the wireless network testdevice 910. A part of the applet displays a multiple choice request foruser wireless network performance experience where the user can ratecurrent network performance from one of five choices: “Excellent”,“Good”, “Sufficient”, “Not Sufficient” and “Very Poor” 911. The secondportion of the applet instructs the user to describe any issues she ishaving on the wireless network in freeform text 912 and then gives spaceto do that 913. Response text is interpreted and mapped to standardizedterms by the central analytics engine as part of overall testing 914.The choice from the first portion 911 of the applet are similarly usedto measure general wireless network performance.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating both passive and active testing ofmore than one wireless network by wireless network service quality testdevices according to a preferred embodiment of the invention 1000. Thesystem 1001 has the ability to run tests on two separate networks withina single test suite. In the case of testing the corporation's wirelessphone provider network connection 1003, this testing may occur actively,attempts to connect to designated phone exchanges, to downloaddesignated data or to connect to designated servers and web pages tolist a few illustrative examples, or passively, measurements of signalstrength at test location, signal to noise ratios, radio and connectacknowledgement latency. Results may be reported to the phone serviceprovider's quality management as well as client corporate analysts onceconnection with the primary wireless network 1004 is reestablished atthe conclusion of mobile network testing 1003. When two separatewireless networks 1004 that require use of the RF radio is planned, thismay be accomplished in two ways. First, the remote test device may havesimultaneous dual RF radio capability, in which case the second wirelessnetwork not depicted for simplicity may be probed and the resultant dataimmediately sent to the central analysis and control server 410 forinclusion in the analysis results made available to the end user 480.Alternatively, a remote test device with only single RF capability maydisconnect from the first network 1004, connect to the second network tobe tested and while probing the network, store the resultant datainternally. Upon completion of inspection of the second network, theremote test device may disconnect from the second network, re-connect tothe first network 1004 ad send all of the stored result data from thesecond network to the central analysis and control server 410 forinclusion in the test results of the current test suite and presentationto the end users 480. A second network service quality test device 1002with both wireless 1004 network and wired network 1005 connectioncapabilities may be used to execute interactive and background networkperformance tests 1006, 1008, either active such as data throughput,retry number, and ping return time 1007, 1009 or passive such as deeppacket inspection, packet capture and protocol analysis, packet droprates and wireless radio channel usage is manners similar to thosedescribed above. Again, data would be sent to the central analysis andcontrol server 410 as soon as a connection is reestablished.

FIG. 11 Is a list of methods by which the location of individualwireless network service quality test devices may be obtained accordingto a preferred embodiment of the invention 1100. The ability to positioneach wireless network test device at a specific location within thegeography of the network greatly augments the value of the datacollected as such things as coverage maps and access pointidentification can be made. The GPS system 1101 is an extremelyaccurate, automated method to establish test device location and alsoallows determination of test device movement, which can affect test dataas the orientation of the device antenna changes and altitude which mayplay a role in specific circumstances. GPS signals can be weak orerratic indoors where may wireless network performance tests occur,then, other methods such as location determination by proximity to knownWi-Fi SSID/BSSID or visible light based data transmitter (“Li-Fi”) orinfrared sensor 1102, Wi-Fi location service, RTLS or similar where testdevice location is determined by differential signal levels, packetpropagation delay or signal direction determination through use of adirectional antenna pattern 1103. Test device location may also bedetermine using a magnetic location service which has been calibratedfor a particular building or floor plan 1104. Less reliable, as itrelies on manual response and a user's perception of the preciselocation in which she finds herself, is to have the user identify herlocation on a floorplan map 1105 or verbally provide her location in anuncoached, freeform manner 1106.

FIG. 12 is a diagram displaying example forms of wireless servicequality test output according to a preferred embodiment of the invention1200. The invention can display both interim and final results ofwireless service quality analysis in a large plurality of ways anddisplay method may be significantly affected by the desires and needs ofindividual customers. Multiple exemplary display methods from one ormore embodiments of the invention are shown in FIG. 12A, and FIG. 12B.The first example, 1201 illustrates the use of line graphs to show oneaspect of wireless network performance, file download from a remotenetwork server to mobile network service quality devices 710 on twoseparate wireless networks 1204, 1205. The x-axis denotes time in hourswith six hour intervals specifically labeled 1203. The y-axis denotesdownload speed in megabits per second 1202. It can be seen that downloadspeed varies significantly over time for both tested network 1 1204 andtested network 2 1205 and variance is cyclic for both networks. Thevariance is highly synchronized between the two networks with valleys ofbandwidth occurring largely concurrently for both network. It shouldalso be noted that for both tested network 1 1204 and network 2 1205,these lows fall below service quality minimum set by the customer forthis activity 1206 where warnings may be sent out. Notifications maythus be sent to administrators, technicians, and managers per thecustomer's problem handling plan. Further, during the test period shown,the performance quality of network 2 1205 falls below the leveldesignated by the customer as “critical” on multiple occasions. Theseevents may lead to more drastic notification of a wider group of peoplewithin the customer company and may also lead to the activation of oneor more alarms to signify critical status as is illustrated in FIG. 13.

A second example 1211 shows a pseudo-topographical map which may besuperimposed over the floorplan of the area served by a wirelessnetwork, or may depict individual wireless access point designations asmarkers and which relies on the location of wireless network servicequality devices. This map conveys three parameters important to wirelessnetwork performance: shading represents congestion and retransmissionlevels with darker shading denoting diminishing service quality; Theheight of the graph denotes wireless signal strength; and the linesdenote user reported wireless service experience with denser groupingsindicating diminishing user service quality experience. The pin at 1215denotes a wireless access point and the expected high signal strength isseen 1214. 1213 shows that although the signal strength is somewhatdiminished with distance from the access point 1215 and test measuredcongestion and packet retransmission level appear relatively high, userexperience is good to excellent. Two apparent problem areas for thisnetwork appear to be at 1216 and 1217 where test measured signalstrengths are low, test measured network congestion and packetretransmission levels are high and user reported service qualityexperience is very poor. These results allow the company to take actionif desired. Legend 1212 represents a compass bearing to give an externalreference.

A third example shown in FIG. 12B, 1220 depicts a map of functionalwireless network coverage for a specific customer 1221. This coveragemap is the result of programmatic transformation by the central controland analysis server followed by display in a format that may be specificto or modified for the needs of the customer. This example should not beseen to limit the capabilities of the invention to display of networkparameter data using maps or the complexity that such display may attainbut is meant only to introduce such map use in an easy to visualizemethod.

A fourth example is a set of graphs illustrating test results from asubset of the network parameters from a plurality of possible parameterswhich include ping response time 1230; web page download time 1240;network packet throughput 1260; voice over IP voice quality 1270; TCPdownload throughput 1250; and TCP upload throughput 1280 from a specificnetwork device. All graphs measure service parameter quality as afunction of time 1232, 1242, 1252, 1262, 1272, 1282. The graphs for pingresponse time 1230, web page download time 1240, network packetthroughput 1260 and voice over IP voice quality 1270 report thoseparameters with respect to customer service level agreement (SLA)requirements 1231, 1241, 1261, 1271 with service level plotted as thepercentage of that SLA 1233, 1243, 1263, 1273. Each graph shows apercentage of customer SLA that would lead to warning notifications1234, 1244, 1264, 1274 being sent as illustrated in FIG. 13. Some of thegraphs plot parameters on which the customer relies to have functioningat or very near 100% of their SLA level 1240, 1260 1270 whereas theembodiment is set to warn those designated only after ping responsedrops below approximately 80% of the customer's SLA 1234. All fourgraphs also have a critical service level set 1235, 1245, 1265, 1275.Service levels below these critical set points may cause more extremenotifications to be sent, possibly to a larger group of designatedcustomer representatives and alarms may also be activated 1300. As anexample of such a situation, it can be seen in the ping response timegraph 1230 that service level not only falls below the level wherewarnings may be sent 1234, but falls below 1236 the customer's“critical” service level 1235. This may lead to alarms being activatedat that time, possibly per the process illustrated in FIG. 13. The lasttwo graphs 1250 and 1280 are plotted using time 1252, 1282, but use theless derived measure of Mbit/s for the y-axis 1251, 1281 with the extentof the y-axis fitted closely to the maximal throughput 1253, 1283 inboth of these situations, warnings 1254, 1284 and critical notifications1255, 1285 are both set such that a network failure would be required,or were not set by the customer. SLA and MBits/s are two examples ofmeasurements that may be graphed by the invention but are notexhaustive. The invention may be used to display any measurement knownto those skilled in the art and appropriate to the parameter beingdisplayed.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a possible notification, warning and alarmmechanism to be used when network performance is found to be belowcustomer established service level minimums according to a preferredembodiment of the invention 1300. Wireless service quality test resultsonce analyzed 1301 by the central analysis and control server 410, maybe compared to customer service level requirements 1302. Often allresults will be above customer minimums and those results may be displayaccording customer specifications 1303. Otherwise, network widenotifications 1304 will be sent to those representatives designated bythe company according to the customer's notification policy. Messages orreadouts identifying the faulty equipment or suggesting remedial stepsas calculated by the central analytics engine module 445 may also besent or displayed 1305. If there are customer alarms set for thedetermined deficiencies 1306, signals to activate those alarms will besent 1307. Again, messages or readouts identifying the faulty equipmentor suggesting remedial steps as calculated by the central analyticsengine module 445 may be sent of displayed 1308. It is also possiblethat the analyzed test results show that only a specific portion of thewireless network tested is impacted 1309, if the customer has policy forsuch circumstances those will be followed 1310, if not the informationmay be included in any general network notifications. Once again,messages or readouts identifying the faulty equipment or suggestingremedial steps 1311 as calculated by the central analytics engine module445 may be sent of displayed. In all cases the test data will bedisplayed on the interactive terminal 480 and placed in long-termstorage 1312.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a change of access point duringwireless network user roaming, according to an embodiment of theinvention 1800. Roaming within an area of network coverage by a userwith a mobile device along a spatial dimension 1802 may present specialchallenges for network service quality, especially during certainnetwork tasks. The issue may occur at a point where signal strength 1801of a first access point 1804 decreases and signal strength of a second,adjacent access 1803 point increases to the point where the user'snetwork device switches connection from the first access point to thesecond access point at a particular time 1817. As illustrated, thisevent 1817 may be configured such that the signal level from the firstaccess point 1804 will have decreased significantly below 1806 theavailable signal strength 1805 of the second access point 1803, towardswhich the user is traveling, before the wireless device switches accesspoints at time 1817 so as to minimize rapid, repetitive, switches of thedevice from one to the other access point. The point of the roamingevent 1817 at access point coverage boundaries may be mapped, and isaffected by several factors including but not limited to environment(such as weather), mobile or transient obstructions, user devicecharacteristics, and radio interference from other equipment.

The rate of occurrence of roaming events 1817 is minimized as, duringeach event 1817, there is a period of time, usually quite small, wherethe user device is breaking down the connection to the first accesspoint 1807 and establishing the connection with the second access point1809; during this time packets may be lost 1808, incurring an effective“roaming delay”. Often, this event will go unnoticed by the user as thelost packets are retransmitted and the packet stream at the point of theroaming event 1817 reassembled with no noticeable effect. Someapplications, such as (but not limited to) voice over IP, are highlysensitive to packet loss and loss of coherence or stutter may occur atpoints of roaming delay 1808. It is also possible that operation of oneor more of the access points in a customer's network may lead to eitherstatic or transient elongation of roaming delay events 1808, which maylead the customer to implement an embodiment of the invention that teststhis parameter at critical boundaries within the network.

FIG. 19 is a table 1900 of network parameters that may be testedaccording to an embodiment of the invention. There are many networkparameters that are measurable, many of which may be of great importanceto customers reliant on knowing and maintaining the service qualitylevel of their wireless networks at one or more sites, and which can betested and analyzed by embodiments of the invention. These measurableand analyzable parameters range from level 1 1901 of the OSI model tolevel 7 1902 of that model. A non-exhaustive listing of testableparameters at each OSI level are listed in table 1900. These range fromradio spectrum analysis of bands associated with wireless networkfunction and properties of the radio signals at the network site at thephysical level; beaconing, and traffic volume at the network level; andpacket loss and throughput of UDP, TCP and ICMP packets at the transportlevel, just to list a few examples from the already somewhat limitedexample listing 1900. This list 1900 is purely illustrative and theabsence of a parameter from the listed parameters does not at all implythat the invention is incapable of probing its functional level. Theinvention is designed to probe any measurable parameter known to thoseskilled in the art and requested by customer specification.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of network performance problemdetection using multi-factor event correlation. Multi-factor eventcorrelation is a technique whereby one or more client devices 2701 areused to infer actual or potential problems with network performancewhere such information is not otherwise available to the network. Ineffect, the client device(s) 2701 are used as external sensors to thenetwork to detect events and conditions external to the network, such ascoverage problems, co-channel and adjacent-channel interference, hiddennode problems, roaming problems, latency, jitter, throughput problems,and connectivity problems. In multi-factor event correlation, the “view”or “perspective” of the network from the client device provides keyinformation about the wireless network's performance at the location ofthe client device. Since the client device is at a location where noother network device is located (in most cases), the client device isthe only device that can provide information to the network aboutwireless network performance at that location. As an example, there maybe a dead zone or dead spot in network coverage in a certain area forany number of reasons (walls, cabinets, elevator shafts etc.). A userpassing through that dead zone will experience a loss or significantdepredation of network performance. The user knows that there's a deadzone in network coverage at that location, but the network provider hasno way of knowing the dead zone exists. The user's (and the user'sclient device's) “view” or “perspective” from that location provides theonly data indicating that the dead zone exists. If the user's clientdevice is configured to provide network performance data from thatlocation and location information, it effectively becomes an additionalnetwork performance sensor for the network at that location that was nototherwise available.

Multi-factor event correlation may use both active and passive testing,and may correlate the results of those tests against other known ormeasured network event information to infer problems with networkperformance. Active testing includes testing and measurement initiatedby the client device such as initiation of connection attempts,initiation of data transmission and receipt (e.g., bandwidth, andspeed/data rate testing), initiation of audio/voice calls, throughputtesting, and server pings to determine connectivity. Passive testingincludes testing and measurement of events to which the client device isexposed, but which have not necessarily been initiated by the clientdevice, such as existing connections, available signals and theirstrength, data packet capture analysis, and the geolocation of theclient device.

In this example, a client device 2701 is within range of three accesspoints 2702, 2703, 2704, and one source of non-WiFi interference 2705.The ovular shapes indicate an area of signal strength from each signalsource, and are non-circular as a representation of the possible effectof objects and materials that may affect the distance a signal travelsin some directions (e.g. buildings, walls, terrain, etc.). This exampleshows four different interference problems that may arise in a locationin which multiple signal sources are present. A client device configuredto report network performance data from the particular location at whichthe client device is located provides unique data from the view orperspective of the client device about performance at that particularlocation.

In an example of co-channel interference, access point 1 2702 and accesspoint 3 2704 are both transmitting on channel 1 in the 2.4 GHz WiFiband, as shown in 2702 a and 2704 a which show the amount of overlapbetween the signals and the 11 channels allocated to the 2.4 GHz band inNorth America. Since WiFi signals are broadcast digital radio signals,more than one WiFi device transmitting simultaneously on the samechannel (i.e., the same frequencies) within a given band will causedirect interference and none of the signals will be decodable by anyreceiving device (e.g., the client device 2701). To avoid this problem,access points may be configured to share the channel by not transmittingif a transmission on that channel is detected. This results in cleansignal transmission, but reduces the throughput of each access point inproportion to the number of other access points trying to transmit onthe same channel. The client device view or perspective can help detectco-channel interference because, from its location, it is receivingsignals on channel 1 from both AP 1 2702 and AP 3 2704, which it canreport to the network.

In an example of adjacent-channel interference, access point 1 2702 andaccess point 2 2703 are transmitting on nearby channels, as shown in2702 a and 2703 a, wherein the 22 MHz-wide signals from channel 1 andchannel 4 overlap to a significant degree. If both AP 1 and AP 2 aretransmitting at the same time, depending on signal strength and thelocation of the client device relative to the access points, the signalsfrom them may not be decodable by a receiving device (e.g., the clientdevice 2701). Adjacent-channel interference is more problematic thanco-channel interference because it is spill-over from nearby channels.The channels exhibiting adjacent-channel interference can't beeffectively shared as in co-channel interference. The client device viewor perspective can help detect adjacent channel interference because,from its location, it is receiving signals on channel 1 from AP 1 2702and on channel 4 from AP 2 2703, which it can report to the network.

In an example of the hidden node problem, access point 2 2703 and accesspoint 3 2704 are out of range of one another (i.e., then cannot see eachother to determine whether one of them is transmitting on a givenchannel to avoid co-channel interference). The client device 2701 canreceive and transmit signals to and from both access points 2703, 2704,which could result in a situation where two or more of the three devices(the client device 2701 and the two access points 2703, 2704) aretransmitting at the same time which can cause interference. The hiddennode problem is perhaps the best use case of the client device view orperspective. In the hidden node problem, since the access points AP 22703 and AP 3 2704 cannot receive signals from one another, the clientdevice view or perspective is the only means of obtaining informationabout possible interference between those two access points 2703, 2704.The client device can help detect interference at its location because,from its location, it is receiving signals on channel 1 from AP 3 2704and on channel 4 from AP 2 2703, which it can report to the network.

In an example of non-WiFi interference, a non-WiFi device 2705 such as amicrowave, Bluetooth radio, or cordless phone, all of which generatetransmissions in the 2.4 GHz band. These transmissions can cause signalinterference with proper receipt and transmission of signals from otherdevices. For example, in the chart of 2.4 GHz channels, certain non-WiFisignals such as 2705 a can overlap with other channels. The clientdevice view or perspective can help detect non-WiFi interference becauseit may encounter signal problems from its location that it cannotassociate with a recognizable network device, which it can report to thenetwork.

By combining this information from the client device's 2701 view orperspective with active and passive testing of the connection betweenthe client device 2701 and its current access point, inferences can bemade about problems with network performance at the client device/accesspoint level, and potential solutions such as re-configuring the channelor band used by the access point in that location. Network performanceissues such as roaming problems, latency, jitter, throughput problems,and connectivity problems can be correlated with signal landscape (akasignal environment) information gathered by the client devices 2701 toidentify the potential source of the problem and suggest a solution. Forexample, if the client device is having throughput problems, and hasdetermined that it is near two access points that are near the edge oftheir usable range (e.g., a signal strength at the client device near 70dB), the client device may infer that it the throughput problems arebeing caused by a hidden node problem. If the client device 2701 is amobile device, measurements may be taken over time of the client device2701 geolocation and the relative signal strengths of the access pointsto determine where the access points are located and whether changes inposition of the client device 2701 fix the problem (thus confirming thehidden node problem). This client device/access point level informationcan be passed to the control server as data to be used in overallnetwork performance management.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing how client device view or perspective canhelp detect a signal strength insufficiency situation. Signal strengthinsufficiency is another type of environmental condition that can beused to infer and troubleshoot network performance issues. In thisexample, the client device 2801 is within the usable range of accesspoint 1 (2802). The usable range varies according to real worldconditions, but for purposes of this example is defined as >70 dB. Twoother access points 2803, 2804 can be seen by the client device 2801,but are outside of the usable range. Thus, while it may appear thatthree access points are available, attempting to use access point 2 2803or access point 3 2804 will result in lost data, low transmission rates,and poor performance. Again, by combining this information from theclient device's 2801 view or perspective with active and passive testingof the connection between the client device 2801 and its current accesspoint, inferences can be made about problems with network performance atthe client device/access point level, and potential solutions such asinstructing client devices only to connect with certain access points ina given location, despite the existence of other visible access points.Network performance issues such as roaming problems, latency, jitter,throughput problems, and connectivity problems can be correlated withsignal landscape (aka signal environment) information gathered by theclient devices 2801 to identify the potential source of the problem andsuggest a solution. For example, if the client device is havingthroughput problems, and can see signals from other access points, theclient device 2801 can connect with each access point in turn to see ifthroughput improves. If so, that information, along with client device2801 information like geolocation, can be used to make futureconnectivity decisions. If the client device 2801 is a mobile device,measurements may be taken over time of the client device 2801geolocation and the relative signal strengths of the access points todetermine the area of usable signal from a given access point. Thisclient device/access point level information can be passed to thecontrol server as data to be used in overall network performancemanagement.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a test cycle 2901 for capture of networkperformance data by a client device. A test cycle 2901 may comprise anynumber and types of testing, but in this example, the test cycle 2901comprises a passive testing phase 2902, an active testing phase 2903, astation connectivity test phase 2904, and a system log check 2905.Active testing 2902 includes testing and measurement initiated by theclient device such as initiation of connection attempts, initiation ofdata transmission and receipt (e.g., bandwidth, and speed/data ratetesting), initiation of audio/voice calls, throughput testing, andserver pings to determine connectivity. Passive testing 2903 includestesting and measurement of events to which the client device is exposed,but which have not necessarily been initiated by the client device, suchas existing connections, available signals and their strength, datapacket capture analysis, and the geolocation of the client device.Station connectivity state testing 2904 may include information as towhether a connection exists, to which access point the client device isconnected, the signal strength of the connection, etc. The system logcheck 2905 may include information such as type of wireless devicehardware and firmware, version of wireless device driver, client devicehardware and software, operating system type and version, type ofconnection (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.), speed of connection(determined by handshake), failed 802.11 authentications, DNS failures,no IP address/bad IP address, no internet connectivity, etc. Theinformation gathered during each test cycle can be tracked over time,and combined with other information like the geolocation of the clientdevice and the location of other nearby access points to make networkperformance management decisions.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing usage of an external monitoring device tocapture and report network performance data for a different device withlimitations or restrictions on network data reporting. In this example,a limited or restricted device 3003 with limitations or restrictions onits network performance reporting data is connected to an access point3002, which is connected to a control server 3001. An example of alimited or restricted device 3003 is an Apple iPhone, which uses aproprietary operating system that does not allow users or developers toaccess the device's data about its network performance and connectivity.This is a significant drawback for many reasons, but is particularlyproblematic when attempting to use the limited or restricted device 3003to report network performance data to the system for network performancemanagement purposes. However, it is possible to use an externalmonitoring device 3004 to capture, analyze, and report wireless networkperformance data for the limited or restricted device 3003. The externalmonitoring device 3004 scans for compatible devices (e.g., devices thathave a particular application installed, or are part of a VPN or otherservice that includes the external monitoring device 3004, etc.). Thelimited or restricted device 3003, being such a compatible device,reports its existence and identification to the external monitoringdevice 3004. The external monitoring device 3004 captures wirelessmanagement and control frames, which are unencrypted wireless datapackets sent between devices (such as the access point 3002 and thelimited or restricted device 3003) to manage and control theircommunications. The wireless management and control frames aredistinguished from the data frames in that the wireless management andcontrol frames must be heard and understood by all clients and thereforemust be transmitted as open or unencrypted to allow negotiation ofcommunications, whereas the data frames intended for a specific deviceafter communications have been negotiated, and may be encrypted. Theexternal monitoring device 3004 captures all wireless frames, identifiesthose associated with the limited or restricted device 3003 using thereported identification, analyzes the wireless management and controlframes for network performance data such as the MCS index, number ofretries, etc., and reports network performance data to the controlserver 3001 on behalf of the limited or restricted device 3003. If dataframes are unencrypted the external monitoring device 3004 may also usethem to reports network performance data such as throughput, actualdata-rate etc. to the control server.

In another embodiment, the limited or restricted device 3003 is notcapable of reporting its own network performance data for some otherreason. For example, the limited or restricted device may be an IoTdevice which is capable of logging connectivity data, but has limitedprocessing power and storage, no geolocation awareness, and cannotperform analyses of the connectivity data, and may not be able to reportits connectivity data to the control server 3001 through the accesspoint 3002. In such case, the external monitoring device 3004 (which isa more capable client device with general purpose computing capabilitiessuch as a mobile phone or desktop computer) can be provided with anidentifier for the limited or restricted device 3003, and can interceptwireless frames, identify those associated with the limited orrestricted device 3003, and analyze and report network performance datato the control server 3001 on behalf of the limited or restricted device3003, as noted above. In other cases, the limited or restricted device3003 may be configured to simply broadcast (either periodically orcontinuously) data regarding its connection with the access point 3002along with a device identifier, which broadcast can be received by theexternal monitoring device 3004, and transmitted to the control server3001, either through the same access point or a different one.

In another embodiment, the client device connecting to a network may bea device with limited processing or storage capabilities, such anInternet of Things (IoT) device like an Internet-capable television oran embedded system such as an Internet-capable weather checking systemon an irrigation controller. In such cases, the client device may havelimited analysis and reporting capabilities, but may be able to sendconnectivity data and a device identifier to another device for analysisand reporting. In this example, an IoT device 3003 is connected to anaccess point 3002, which is connected to a control server 3001. The IoTdevice 3003 has a device identifier and is capable of loggingconnectivity data, but has limited processing power and storage, nogeolocation awareness, and cannot perform analyses of the connectivitydata, and may not be able to report its connectivity data to the controlserver 3001 through the access point 3002. In such case, the IoT devicemay be configured to simply broadcast (either periodically orcontinuously) data regarding its connection with the access point 3002along with a device identifier, which broadcast can be received by amore capable client device with general purpose computing capabilities3004 such as a mobile phone or desktop computer. The more capable clientdevice 3004 may also be connected to the control server 3001, eitherthrough the same access point or a different one, and may perform theanalysis and reporting on behalf of the IoT device 3003. Thus, thecontrol server gains the benefit of the connectivity data from the IoTdevice 3003, as analyzed and reported by a different device 3004, whoseconnectivity to the network may or may not be significant to managingnetwork performance.

Hardware Architecture

Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented onhardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, theymay be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate userprocess, in a library package bound into network applications, on aspecially constructed machine, on an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card.

Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmablenetwork-resident machine (which should be understood to includeintermittently connected network-aware machines) selectively activatedor reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such networkdevices may have multiple network interfaces that may be configured ordesigned to utilize different types of network communication protocols.A general architecture for some of these machines may be describedherein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which agiven unit of functionality may be implemented. According to specificembodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of thevarious embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on one or moregeneral-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such asfor example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a networkserver or other server system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tabletcomputing device, mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, or other appropriatecomputing device), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or anyother suitable electronic device, router, switch, or other suitabledevice, or any combination thereof. In at least some embodiments, atleast some of the features or functionalities of the various embodimentsdisclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computingenvironments (e.g., network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted onone or more physical computing machines, or other appropriate virtualenvironments).

Referring now to FIG. 14, there is shown a block diagram depicting anexemplary computing device 10 suitable for implementing at least aportion of the features or functionalities disclosed herein. Computingdevice 10 may be, for example, any one of the computing machines listedin the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device capableof executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to oneor more programs stored in memory. Computing device 10 may be configuredto communicate with a plurality of other computing devices, such asclients or servers, over communications networks such as a wide areanetwork a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols forsuch communication, whether wireless or wired.

In one embodiment, computing device 10 includes one or more centralprocessing units (CPU) 12, one or more interfaces 15, and one or morebusses 14 (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). Whenacting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU 12 maybe responsible for implementing specific functions associated with thefunctions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, a computing device 10 may beconfigured or designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU 12,local memory 11 and/or remote memory 16, and interface(s) 15. In atleast one embodiment, CPU 12 may be caused to perform one or more of thedifferent types of functions and/or operations under the control ofsoftware modules or components, which for example, may include anoperating system and any appropriate applications software, drivers, andthe like.

CPU 12 may include one or more processors 13 such as, for example, aprocessor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families ofmicroprocessors. In some embodiments, processors 13 may includespecially designed hardware such as application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, forcontrolling operations of computing device 10. In a specific embodiment,a local memory 11 (such as non-volatile random access memory (RAM)and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example one or more levelsof cached memory) may also form part of CPU 12. However, there are manydifferent ways in which memory may be coupled to system 10. Memory 11may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, cachingand/or storing data, programming instructions, and the like. It shouldbe further appreciated that CPU 12 may be one of a variety ofsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) type hardware that may include additionalhardware such as memory or graphics processing chips, such as a QUALCOMMSNAPDRAGON™ or SAMSUNG EXYNOS™ CPU as are becoming increasingly commonin the art, such as for use in mobile devices or integrated devices.

As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to thoseintegrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobileprocessor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller,a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmablecircuit.

In one embodiment, interfaces 15 are provided as network interface cards(NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of datapackets over a computer network; other types of interfaces 15 may forexample support other peripherals used with computing device 10. Amongthe interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relayinterfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces,graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types ofinterfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus(USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRE™, THUNDERBOLT™, PCI, parallel, radiofrequency (RF), BLUETOOTH™, near-field communications (e.g., usingnear-field magnetics), 802.11 (Wi-Fi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fastEthernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA) orexternal SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI), digital visual interface (DVI), analog or digital audiointerfaces, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speedserial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Point of Sale (POS) interfaces,fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like. Generally, suchinterfaces 15 may include physical ports appropriate for communicationwith appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include anindependent processor (such as a dedicated audio or video processor, asis common in the art for high-fidelity AN hardware interfaces) and, insome instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).

Although the system shown in FIG. 14 illustrates one specificarchitecture for a computing device 10 for implementing one or more ofthe inventions described herein, it is by no means the only devicearchitecture on which at least a portion of the features and techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented. For example, architectures havingone or any number of processors 13 may be used, and such processors 13may be present in a single device or distributed among any number ofdevices. In one embodiment, a single processor 13 handles communicationsas well as routing computations, while in other embodiments a separatededicated communications processor may be provided. In variousembodiments, different types of features or functionalities may beimplemented in a system according to the invention that includes aclient device (such as a tablet device or smartphone running clientsoftware) and server systems (such as a server system described in moredetail below).

Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the presentinvention may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as,for example, remote memory block 16 and local memory 11) configured tostore data, program instructions for the general-purpose networkoperations, or other information relating to the functionality of theembodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Programinstructions may control execution of or comprise an operating systemand/or one or more applications, for example. Memory 16 or memories 11,16 may also be configured to store data structures, configuration data,encryption data, historical system operations information, or any otherspecific or generic non-program information described herein.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed toimplement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least somenetwork device embodiments may include nontransitory machine-readablestorage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed tostore program instructions, state information, and the like forperforming various operations described herein. Examples of suchnontransitory machine-readable storage media include, but are notlimited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical mediasuch as optical disks, and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-onlymemory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is common in mobile devices andintegrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and “hybrid SSD” storagedrives that may combine physical components of solid state and hard diskdrives in a single hardware device (as are becoming increasingly commonin the art with regard to personal computers), memristor memory, randomaccess memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated that suchstorage means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardwaremodules that may be soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integratedinto an electronic device), or they may be removable such as swappableflash memory modules (such as “thumb drives” or other removable mediadesigned for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices),“hot-swappable” hard disk drives or solid state drives, removableoptical storage discs, or other such removable media, and that suchintegral and removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably.Examples of program instructions include both object code, such as maybe produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced by anassembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by forexample a JAVA™ compiler and may be executed using a Java virtualmachine or equivalent, or files containing higher level code that may beexecuted by the computer using an interpreter (for example, scriptswritten in Python, Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).

In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may beimplemented on a standalone computing system. Referring now to FIG. 15,there is shown a block diagram depicting a typical exemplaryarchitecture of one or more embodiments or components thereof on astandalone computing system. Computing device 20 includes processors 21that may run software that carry out one or more functions orapplications of embodiments of the invention, such as for example aclient application 24. Processors 21 may carry out computinginstructions under control of an operating system 22 such as, forexample, a version of MICROSOFT WINDOWS™ operating system, APPLE OSX™ oriOS™ operating systems, some variety of the Linux operating system,ANDROID™ operating system, or the like. In many cases, one or moreshared services 23 may be operable in system 20, and may be useful forproviding common services to client applications 24. Services 23 may forexample be WINDOWS™ services, user-space common services in a Linuxenvironment, or any other type of common service architecture used withoperating system 21. Input devices 28 may be of any type suitable forreceiving user input, including for example a keyboard, touchscreen,microphone (for example, for voice input), mouse, touchpad, trackball,or any combination thereof. Output devices 27 may be of any typesuitable for providing output to one or more users, whether remote orlocal to system 20, and may include for example one or more screens forvisual output, speakers, printers, or any combination thereof. Memory 25may be random-access memory having any structure and architecture knownin the art, for use by processors 21, for example to run software.Storage devices 26 may be any magnetic, optical, mechanical, memristor,or electrical storage device for storage of data in digital form (suchas those described above, referring to FIG. 14). Examples of storagedevices 26 include flash memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or thelike.

In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implementedon a distributed computing network, such as one having any number ofclients and/or servers. Referring now to FIG. 16, there is shown a blockdiagram depicting an exemplary architecture 30 for implementing at leasta portion of a system according to an embodiment of the invention on adistributed computing network. According to the embodiment, any numberof clients 33 may be provided. Each client 33 may run software forimplementing client-side portions of the present invention; clients maycomprise a system 20 such as that illustrated in FIG. 15. In addition,any number of servers 32 may be provided for handling requests receivedfrom one or more clients 33. Clients 33 and servers 32 may communicatewith one another via one or more electronic networks 31, which may be invarious embodiments any of the Internet, a wide area network, a mobiletelephony network (such as CDMA or GSM cellular networks), a wirelessnetwork (such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, LTE, and so forth), or a local areanetwork (or indeed any network topology known in the art; the inventiondoes not prefer any one network topology over any other). Networks 31may be implemented using any known network protocols, including forexample wired and/or wireless protocols.

In addition, in some embodiments, servers 32 may call external services37 when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer toadditional data concerning a particular call. Communications withexternal services 37 may take place, for example, via one or morenetworks 31. In various embodiments, external services 37 may compriseweb-enabled services or functionality related to or installed on thehardware device itself. For example, in an embodiment where clientapplications 24 are implemented on a smartphone or other electronicdevice, client applications 24 may obtain information stored in a serversystem 32 in the cloud or on an external service 37 deployed on one ormore of a particular enterprise's or user's premises.

In some embodiments of the invention, clients 33 or servers 32 (or both)may make use of one or more specialized services or appliances that maybe deployed locally or remotely across one or more networks 31. Forexample, one or more databases 34 may be used or referred to by one ormore embodiments of the invention. It should be understood by one havingordinary skill in the art that databases 34 may be arranged in a widevariety of architectures and using a wide variety of data access andmanipulation means. For example, in various embodiments one or moredatabases 34 may comprise a relational database system using astructured query language (SQL), while others may comprise analternative data storage technology such as those referred to in the artas “NoSQL” (for example, HADOOP CASSANDRA™, GOOGLE BIGTABLE™, and soforth). In some embodiments, variant database architectures such ascolumn-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases,distributed databases, or even flat file data repositories may be usedaccording to the invention. It will be appreciated by one havingordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or futuredatabase technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specificdatabase technology or a specific arrangement of components is specifiedfor a particular embodiment herein. Moreover, it should be appreciatedthat the term “database” as used herein may refer to a physical databasemachine, a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or alogical database within an overall database management system. Unless aspecific meaning is specified for a given use of the term “database”, itshould be construed to mean any of these senses of the word, all ofwhich are understood as a plain meaning of the term “database” by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art.

Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or moresecurity systems 36 and configuration systems 35. Security andconfiguration management are common information technology (IT) and webfunctions, and some amount of each are generally associated with any ITor web systems. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill inthe art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the artnow or in the future may be used in conjunction with embodiments of theinvention without limitation, unless a specific security 36 orconfiguration system 35 or approach is specifically required by thedescription of any specific embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows an exemplary overview of a computer system 40 as may beused in any of the various locations throughout the system. It isexemplary of any computer that may execute code to process data. Variousmodifications and changes may be made to computer system 40 withoutdeparting from the broader scope of the system and method disclosedherein. Central processor unit (CPU) 41 is connected to bus 42, to whichbus is also connected memory 43, nonvolatile memory 44, display 47,input/output (I/O) unit 48, and network interface card (NIC) 53. I/Ounit 48 may, typically, be connected to keyboard 49, pointing device 50,hard disk 52, and real-time clock 51. NIC 53 connects to network 54,which may be the Internet or a local network, which local network may ormay not have connections to the Internet. Also shown as part of system40 is power supply unit 45 connected, in this example, to a mainalternating current (AC) supply 46. Not shown are batteries that couldbe present, and many other devices and modifications that are well knownbut are not applicable to the specific novel functions of the currentsystem and method disclosed herein. It should be appreciated that someor all components illustrated may be combined, such as in variousintegrated applications, for example Qualcomm or Samsungsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) devices, or whenever it may be appropriate tocombine multiple capabilities or functions into a single hardware device(for instance, in mobile devices such as smartphones, video gameconsoles, in-vehicle computer systems such as navigation or multimediasystems in automobiles, or other integrated hardware devices).

In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems ormethods of the present invention may be distributed among any number ofclient and/or server components. For example, various software modulesmay be implemented for performing various functions in connection withthe present invention, and such modules may be variously implemented torun on server and/or client components.

The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications ofthe various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the presentinvention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for distributed network performancemanagement, comprising: a control server, comprising a memory, aprocessor, and a first plurality of programming instructions stored inthe memory which, when operating on the processor, cause the controlserver to: send configuration instructions to a distributed testingapplication installed on a plurality of client devices, theconfiguration instructions for each device comprising: a level ofautonomy of the client device; instructions to report network testresults, the network test results comprising an indicator of networkperformance regarding the client device's connection to a network orserver; receive the reported network test results from the clientdevice; and determine a condition of performance of the network from thereported data; change the configuration instructions for one or more ofthe plurality of client devices based on the condition; and adistributed testing application comprising a second plurality ofprogramming instructions stored in a memory of, and operating on aprocessor of, each of the plurality of client devices, wherein thesecond plurality of programming instructions, when operating on theprocessor of the respective client device, causes the respective clientdevice to: receive the configuration instructions; establish a networktesting regime, the network testing regime being based on the level ofautonomy and comprising: a selection of one or more types of networktesting to be performed; a schedule for performing the one or more typesof network testing; a selection of one or more granularity levels forthe one or more types of network testing; and a schedule for reportingnetwork test results of the one or more types of network testing to thecontrol server or a third party server; and report the network testresults to the control server or the third party server; furthercomprising a hierarchy of client devices wherein some of the pluralityof client devices act as an intermediary control server for other clientdevices.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a service levelmanager comprising a second plurality of programming instructions storedin the memory which, when operating on the processor, cause the controlserver to: include a service level command in the configurationinstructions sent to one or more groups of client devices, the servicelevel command comprising a service level for testing and reporting;wherein the service level command causes each client device a givengroup to adjust its network testing regime based on the service level.3. The system of claim 2, wherein the selection of tests, the schedulefor testing, and the schedule for reporting of the network testingregime for each device in the given group is based on statisticalsampling methodologies.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the networktesting regime further comprises: monitoring of a parameter of networkperformance; increasing network testing frequency, granularity, or both,where the client device detects a problem with network performance; anddecreasing network testing frequency, granularity, or both, where theclient device does not detect a problem with network performance.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the configuration instructions furthercomprise instructions to capture geolocation data regarding the clientdevice's geolocation and provide the geolocation data in conjunctionwith the network test results.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein theconfiguration instructions further comprise instructions to additionallysend test results to a third-party server for analysis and reporting. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the configuration instructions furthercomprise instructions to only send detailed test results to athird-party while sending only the results at the level of detailrequired by the control server to manage the statistical sampling andtesting regimes.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one clientdevice is a wireless device, and at least one of the one or more typesof network testing is a test of wireless communication performance. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the distributed testing applicationfurther comprises a wireless performance monitor, the wirelessperformance monitor comprising a third plurality of programminginstructions stored in the memory of, and operating on the processor of,the client device, wherein the third plurality of programminginstructions, when operating on the processor of the client device,causes the client device to: capture wireless packet data from thewireless device driver of the client device; extract frame data from thewireless packet data; and calculate an indicator of wireless performancefrom the extracted frame data.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theconfiguration instructions further comprise instructions to additionallysend test results to a third-party server for analysis and reporting.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration instructionsfurther comprise instructions to only send detailed test results to athird-party while sending only the results at the level of detailrequired by the control server to manage the statistical sampling andtesting regimes.
 12. A method for distributed network performancemanagement, comprising the steps of: sending configuration instructionsfrom a control server to a distributed testing application installed ona plurality of client devices, the configuration instructions for eachdevice comprising: a level of autonomy of the client device;instructions to report network test results, the network test resultscomprising an indicator of network performance regarding the clientdevice's connection to a network or server; receiving the reportednetwork test results from the client device; and determining a conditionof performance of the network from the reported data; changing theconfiguration instructions for one or more of the plurality of clientdevices based on the condition; and wherein the distributed testingapplication, operating on each of the plurality of client devices,causes the respective client device to: receive the configurationinstructions; establish a network testing regime, the network testingregime being based on the level of autonomy and comprising: a selectionof one or more types of network testing to be performed; a schedule forperforming the one or more types of network testing; a selection of oneor more granularity levels for the one or more types of network testingand; a schedule for reporting network test results of the one or moretypes of network testing to the control server or a third party server;and report the network test results to the control server or the thirdparty server; further comprising the step of establishing a hierarchy ofclient devices wherein some of the plurality of client devices act as anintermediary control server for other client devices.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising the step of using a service level managerto: include a service level command in the configuration instructionssent to one or more groups of client devices, the service level commandcomprising a service level for testing and reporting; wherein theservice level command causes each client device a given group to adjustits network testing regime based on the service level.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising the step of determining the selection oftests, the schedule for testing, and the schedule for reporting of thenetwork testing regime for each device in the given group based onstatistical sampling methodologies.
 15. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising the steps of configuring the network testing regime to:monitor of a parameter of network performance; increase network testingfrequency, granularity, or both, where the client device detects aproblem with network performance; and decrease network testingfrequency, granularity, or both, where the client device does not detecta problem with network performance.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe configuration instructions further comprise instructions to capturegeolocation data regarding the client device's geolocation and providethe geolocation data in conjunction with the network test results. 17.The method of claim 12, wherein at least one client device is a wirelessdevice, and at least one of the one or more types of network testing isa test of wireless communication performance.
 18. The method of claim17, further comprising the steps of using a wireless performance monitorto: capture wireless packet data from the wireless device driver of theclient device; extract frame data from the wireless packet data; andcalculate an indicator of wireless performance from the extracted framedata.